Burney Co. Purchases Shares of 81,508 SFL Corporation Ltd. $SFL

Burney Co. acquired a new position in shares of SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 81,508 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $879,000. Burney Co. owned 0.06% of SFL as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in SFL by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,904,433 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $21,870,000 after purchasing an additional 97,689 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in SFL by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,259,801 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,839,000 after buying an additional 174,072 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in SFL by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 660,013 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $5,155,000 after buying an additional 86,339 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SFL by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 519,570 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,058,000 after buying an additional 16,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of SFL by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 509,232 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,977,000 after acquiring an additional 23,937 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

SFL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SFL opened at $10.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $11.41 and a 200-day moving average of $10.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a PE ratio of 44.90 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. SFL Corporation Ltd. has a 12 month low of $6.73 and a 12 month high of $12.94.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 12th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.13. SFL had a net margin of 4.37% and a return on equity of 0.26%. The business had revenue of $174.48 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.24) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis.

SFL Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is an increase from SFL’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.2%. SFL’s payout ratio is presently 366.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SFL shares. BTIG Research raised their price target on shares of SFL from $12.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SFL from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SFL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

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.