Manatuck Hill Partners LLC Buys Shares of 13,300 Frontline PLC $FRO

Manatuck Hill Partners LLC bought a new stake in Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $290,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FRO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Frontline by 32.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 26,342 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 6,424 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Frontline in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,587,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Frontline by 12.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 185,226 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 20,370 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Frontline by 93.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 72,539 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,190,000 after acquiring an additional 35,078 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Frontline by 215.8% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 91,039 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 62,210 shares during the period. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research lifted their target price on Frontline from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Danske downgraded Frontline to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Frontline from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Dnb Carnegie downgraded Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Frontline from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.12.

Frontline Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FRO opened at $38.83 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.34. The company has a market cap of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 0.02. Frontline PLC has a 12-month low of $16.25 and a 12-month high of $40.17.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $714.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $579.59 million. Frontline had a return on equity of 27.80% and a net margin of 36.70%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 66.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.18 earnings per share.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 16.0%. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is presently 152.71%.

Frontline Company 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.