Osaic Holdings Inc. Grows Stock Position in Frontline PLC $FRO

Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,958 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,860 shares during the quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. owned 0.06% of Frontline worth $2,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Frontline during the 1st quarter valued at $45,026,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,029,034 shares during the last quarter. Corigliano Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Frontline during the first quarter valued at about $12,002,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Frontline by 274.3% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 877,529 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $14,400,000 after acquiring an additional 643,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Frontline in the first quarter worth about $7,587,000. 22.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on FRO. Clarkson Capital upgraded Frontline to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Frontline from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Frontline from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Frontline from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Frontline currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.62.

Frontline Stock Performance

Frontline stock opened at $21.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Frontline PLC has a 12 month low of $12.40 and a 12 month high of $26.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.45. The company has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 0.06.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The shipping company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.04). Frontline had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 12.23%.The business had revenue of $257.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.34 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Frontline PLC will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Frontline’s payout ratio is presently 77.55%.

Frontline Profile

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.