Frontline PLC $FRO Stock Position Raised by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,840,353 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 164,776 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 2.62% of Frontline worth $133,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FRO. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Frontline by 155.1% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,692,537 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,775,000 after buying an additional 1,029,034 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Frontline by 28.3% in the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,560,908 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,614,000 after purchasing an additional 344,706 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 20.6% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,058,260 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,118,000 after purchasing an additional 180,731 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 27.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 942,698 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,477,000 after purchasing an additional 202,142 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Frontline by 10.3% during the second quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 739,786 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,142,000 after purchasing an additional 69,152 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRO has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Piper Sandler lowered Frontline to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Frontline from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Frontline in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Frontline from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.62.

Frontline Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FRO opened at $37.17 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. Frontline PLC has a 52 week low of $12.40 and a 52 week high of $39.89. The firm has a market cap of $8.28 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The shipping company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.10). Frontline had a net margin of 19.31% and a return on equity of 16.81%. The company had revenue of $424.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $456.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Frontline PLC will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.1%. This is a positive change from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.71%.

Frontline Profile

Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO) is a leading global shipping company specializing in the seaborne transportation of crude oil and petroleum products. The company’s core business activities encompass the ownership and operation of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Suezmax tankers and Aframax vessels. Through long-term charters, spot market operations and time charters, Frontline provides flexible shipping solutions that cater to a diverse set of energy producers, refiners and trading houses worldwide.

Frontline’s fleet is geared toward high-capacity, ocean-going tankers capable of carrying large volumes of crude oil over intercontinental distances.