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

SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in 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. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 852,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SFL

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of SFL by 3.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 29,908 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 919 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of SFL by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,995,617 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $124,859,000 after acquiring an additional 64,875 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of SFL by 8.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,276,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,723,000 after purchasing an additional 103,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of SFL in the second quarter valued at $1,139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

SFL Stock Performance

NYSE SFL traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $10.87. 798,716 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 859,911. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. SFL has a 52 week low of $9.64 and a 52 week high of $14.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $10.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.24.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $255.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $243.98 million. SFL had a net margin of 16.03% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS.

SFL Dividend Announcement

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