Swiss National Bank Boosts Holdings in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO – Get Rating) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 324,254 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,104 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.15% of Frontline worth $3,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 20.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 461,429 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $4,061,000 after purchasing an additional 78,255 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 10.6% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 212,836 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,873,000 after purchasing an additional 20,417 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 7.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,457,223 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $39,225,000 after purchasing an additional 293,141 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC bought a new position in shares of Frontline in the first quarter worth approximately $112,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 6.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 274,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,414,000 after purchasing an additional 15,618 shares during the last quarter. 35.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Frontline Trading Up 2.0 %

Frontline stock opened at $14.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Frontline plc has a 12-month low of $7.51 and a 12-month high of $19.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $15.71 and a 200 day moving average of $14.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.87 and a beta of 0.21.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $530.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $363.39 million. Frontline had a return on equity of 17.23% and a net margin of 33.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 148.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.02) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Frontline plc will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.12%. This is an increase from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 15th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 199.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Frontline from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Frontline in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.33.

Frontline Profile

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Frontline Plc is an international shipping company, which engages in the ownership and operation of oil and product tankers. It also offers the seaborne transportation of crude oil and oil products. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Limmasol, Cyprus.