Dahlman Rose Reiterates Buy Rating on Ship Finance International (SFL)

Dahlman Rose is out with a research report this afternoon, where it reiterates its Buy rating on Ship Finance International SFL; it has a $25.00 price target on the stock. The DR analyst said cited the company's recent dividend raise, noting that they believe Ship Finance's long term earnings visibility will enable it to continue to increase its quarterly dividend. They project FCF after debt repayment of $3.55 in 2011 and believe that this provides ample room for the company to boost its dividend further. As for valuation, the analysts remarked, “We believe Ship Finance offers a relatively secure stream of cash flows with dividend growth potential. It generated ~$714MM in EBITDA during 2010, and we expect that can grow to $777MM in 2011. We reiterate our Buy rating and $25 price target based on 7x 2011 EBITDA.”