Wall Street Zen Upgrades SFL (NYSE:SFL) to “Hold”

SFL (NYSE:SFL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of SFL in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research raised their target price on SFL from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

SFL Stock Performance

SFL stock opened at $8.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -888.50 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96. SFL has a 12-month low of $6.73 and a 12-month high of $11.13.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 12th. The shipping company reported $0.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.08. SFL had a negative net margin of 0.20% and a positive return on equity of 3.05%. The firm had revenue of $178.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.45 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Trading of SFL

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SFL. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in SFL by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,297,605 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,469,000 after buying an additional 704,710 shares during the last quarter. Credit Agricole S A bought a new position in SFL during the third quarter worth about $2,064,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of SFL by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,806,744 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $23,380,000 after acquiring an additional 188,441 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its position in SFL by 89.1% during the second quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 233,577 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 110,042 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in SFL by 122.0% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 181,556 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,489,000 after buying an additional 99,767 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

SFL Company Profile

Ship Finance International Limited (NYSE: SFL) is an independent owner of modern, large-size ocean-going vessels that provides finance and leasing services to the global shipping industry. The company’s fleet encompasses a diversified mix of crude oil tankers, product and chemical tankers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, dry bulk carriers, container vessels and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units. By structuring long-term charter agreements and bareboat leases with major oil companies, commodity traders and offshore operators, Ship Finance International seeks to deliver stable cash flows and risk-adjusted returns for its shareholders.

In its core business, Ship Finance International acquires or finances vessels through forward sales agreements and then charters them out under fixed-rate contracts, typically ranging from five to 20 years in duration.