SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) Short Interest Update

SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a decline of 20.0% from the September 15th total of 1,400,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,170,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.0 days. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SFL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Pareto Securities raised SFL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com raised SFL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SFL by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,348,021 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $17,767,000 after buying an additional 89,300 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in SFL in the first quarter worth $1,679,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in SFL by 309.1% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,401 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 45,638 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of SFL during the 1st quarter worth about $528,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of SFL by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,276,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,723,000 after buying an additional 103,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

SFL Stock Performance

Shares of SFL stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, reaching $11.61. 389,491 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 791,863. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.67. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $11.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. SFL has a twelve month low of $10.27 and a twelve month high of $14.62.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The shipping company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $190.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $184.17 million. SFL had a return on equity of 12.58% and a net margin of 15.17%. SFL’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.13 EPS.

SFL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.30%. SFL’s payout ratio is 108.00%.

About SFL

SFL Corporation Ltd., a maritime and offshore asset owning and chartering company, engages in the ownership, operation, and chartering out of vessels and offshore related assets on medium and long-term charters. The company operates in various sectors of the maritime, and shipping and offshore industries, including oil transportation, dry bulk shipments, chemical transportation, oil products transportation, container transportation, car transportation, and drilling rigs.