NewEdge Advisors LLC Takes $912,000 Position in Frontline PLC $FRO

NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 26,158 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $912,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Frontline by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,785 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after buying an additional 63,432 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Frontline by 4,659.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,783,681 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $202,080,000 after buying an additional 5,662,172 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 44.0% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,247,120 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $51,212,000 after acquiring an additional 686,212 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,411,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,794,000 after acquiring an additional 217,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 27.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 942,698 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,477,000 after acquiring an additional 202,142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Pareto Securities lowered Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $39.46 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. BTIG Research boosted their price objective on Frontline from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered Frontline from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Danske cut Frontline to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.62.

Frontline Stock Up 3.1%

NYSE:FRO opened at $43.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.71 and a beta of 0.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.98. Frontline PLC has a 52-week low of $18.43 and a 52-week high of $43.89.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.3%. This is a boost from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Frontline’s payout ratio is currently 152.71%.

About Frontline

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.