American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stock Position in SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of SFL Co. Ltd. (NYSE:SFL) by 19.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,803,656 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 462,789 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in SFL were worth $38,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Doheny Asset Management CA lifted its stake in shares of SFL by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter. Doheny Asset Management CA now owns 307,833 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,273,000 after purchasing an additional 47,116 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in SFL by 151.8% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 321,211 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,449,000 after acquiring an additional 193,648 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in SFL by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 29,908 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. Albert D Mason Inc. raised its stake in SFL by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Albert D Mason Inc. now owns 51,472 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $714,000 after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in SFL by 309.1% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 60,401 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $838,000 after acquiring an additional 45,638 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 28.59% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Pareto Securities upgraded shares of SFL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of SFL from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th.

SFL Trading Down 0.9 %

SFL stock opened at $11.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.34. SFL Co. Ltd. has a 1 year low of $10.27 and a 1 year high of $14.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $11.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.94.

SFL (NYSE:SFL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 14th. The shipping company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter. SFL had a net margin of 15.17% and a return on equity of 12.58%. The firm had revenue of $190.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $184.17 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.13 earnings per share. SFL’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

SFL Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 11th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 11th. SFL’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.34%.

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.