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

SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,620,000 shares, a decrease of 15.6% from the December 15th total of 1,920,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 852,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SFL

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SFL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in SFL by 0.7% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,995,617 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $124,859,000 after buying an additional 64,875 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 462,789 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in SFL by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,074,341 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $24,000,000 after acquiring an additional 51,022 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in SFL by 4.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 66,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in SFL by 8.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,276,865 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $17,723,000 after purchasing an additional 103,600 shares during the period. 28.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

SFL Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SFL traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $10.87. 832,307 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 893,991. The company's 50 day moving average is $10.40 and its 200 day moving average is $11.28. SFL has a one year low of $9.64 and a one year high of $14.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.67.

SFL (NYSE:SFL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The shipping company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.03). SFL had a net margin of 16.03% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business had revenue of $255.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. SFL's revenue for the quarter was up 24.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

SFL Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.94%. SFL's dividend payout ratio is currently 97.30%.

SFL Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.