Frontline (NYSE:FRO) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $26.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Frontline traded as high as $25.07 and last traded at $24.8970, with a volume of 596635 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.23.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on FRO. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Frontline from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Frontline in a research report on Friday, August 29th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Frontline from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.37.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FRO. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Frontline in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,026,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Frontline by 155.1% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,692,537 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,775,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029,034 shares during the period. Corigliano Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Frontline in the 1st quarter valued at about $12,002,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Frontline by 274.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 877,529 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,400,000 after acquiring an additional 643,100 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 761.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 648,836 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $9,635,000 after buying an additional 573,544 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Frontline Stock Up 2.1%

The firm has a market cap of $5.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12 and a beta of 0.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.88. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.66 and its 200 day moving average is $19.56.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 29th. The shipping company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $282.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $328.71 million. Frontline had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 12.94%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Frontline PLC will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 24th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. Frontline’s payout ratio is presently 134.58%.

Frontline Company Profile

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.