Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.00.

FRO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore cut shares of Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Dnb Carnegie cut shares of Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Frontline from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 2.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,717 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 1.1% in the third quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 38,601 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 73,544 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,605,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 58.9% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NFSG Corp raised its stake in shares of Frontline by 50.0% in the first quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 1,500 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Frontline Stock Up 3.6%

NYSE FRO opened at $39.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.77. Frontline has a twelve month low of $16.25 and a twelve month high of $39.89. The stock has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24 and a beta of 0.04.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last released its earnings results on Saturday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $624.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $456.90 million. Frontline had a net margin of 19.31% and a return on equity of 16.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 46.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.20 EPS.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 12th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is 242.35%.

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.