SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) Short Interest Down 15.6% in December

SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, a decline of 15.6% from the December 15th total of 1,920,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 852,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Fearnley Fonds raised SFL from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st.

Institutional Trading of SFL

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of SFL by 239.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 168,908 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after purchasing an additional 119,131 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in SFL by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,441,688 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $16,680,000 after purchasing an additional 66,096 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $17,723,000 after buying an additional 103,600 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of SFL by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,803,656 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $38,915,000 after buying an additional 462,789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of SFL during the second quarter valued at $1,139,000. 28.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SFL Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of SFL stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.87. The stock had a trading volume of 798,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,911. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.67. SFL has a 12 month low of $9.64 and a 12 month high of $14.62. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $255.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.98 million. SFL had a return on equity of 14.61% and a net margin of 16.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS.

SFL Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.94%. SFL’s payout ratio is 97.30%.

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.