Financial Comparison: Frontline (FRO) vs. The Competition

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) is one of 1,050 publicly-traded companies in the “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Frontline to related businesses based on the strength of its earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

22.7% of Frontline shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.7% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are held by institutional investors. 48.1% of Frontline shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 15.3% of shares of all “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Frontline pays an annual dividend of $10.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 18.3%. Frontline pays out 156.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.4% and pay out -118.1% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Risk & Volatility

Frontline has a beta of 0.15, meaning that its share price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Frontline’s competitors have a beta of -4.01, meaning that their average share price is 501% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Frontline and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Frontline	$2.71 billion	$379.08 million	8.53
Frontline Competitors	$14.82 billion	$5.51 billion	0.95

Frontline’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Frontline. Frontline is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Frontline and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Frontline	49.47%	44.24%	20.89%
Frontline Competitors	-473.01%	20.47%	6.26%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Frontline and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Frontline	2	5	4	0	2.18
Frontline Competitors	5956	26921	40739	2396	2.52

Frontline presently has a consensus target price of $48.12, indicating a potential downside of 15.44%. As a group, “Oil, Gas & Consumable Fuels” companies have a potential upside of 17.02%. Given Frontline’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Frontline has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Frontline competitors beat Frontline on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

About Frontline

Frontline plc, a shipping company, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oil and oil products worldwide. It owns and operates oil and product tankers. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated a fleet of 70 vessels. It is also involved in the charter, purchase, and sale of vessels. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.