SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

SFL Corporation Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 3,682,401 shares, a drop of 15.3% from the March 15th total of 4,347,294 shares. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,469,856 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days.

SFL Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:SFL opened at $11.06 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.28 and a beta of 0.39. SFL has a 12 month low of $6.73 and a 12 month high of $11.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The shipping company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter. SFL had a negative return on equity of 0.30% and a negative net margin of 3.61%.The company had revenue of $175.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $168.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 earnings per share. SFL’s revenue for the quarter was down 23.1% on a year-over-year basis.

SFL Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. SFL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -400.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SFL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of SFL by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 19,395 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $198,000 after buying an additional 1,474 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of SFL by 52.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,060 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 7,273 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of SFL by 122.0% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 181,556 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,489,000 after buying an additional 99,767 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in shares of SFL by 10.4% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 16,034 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of SFL during the second quarter worth about $139,000. 28.59% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SFL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of SFL from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. BTIG Research boosted their target price on SFL from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded SFL from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SFL has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $12.00.

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.