Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC Sells 2,085,598 Shares of Frontline PLC $FRO

Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC cut its position in shares of Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) by 59.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,431,271 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,085,598 shares during the period. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC’s holdings in Frontline were worth $23,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Frontline by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,547,556 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $81,538,000 after buying an additional 54,471 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Frontline during the 1st quarter worth about $45,026,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Frontline by 155.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,692,537 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,034 shares during the period. Hartree Partners LP increased its position in Frontline by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Hartree Partners LP now owns 1,472,220 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $21,851,000 after purchasing an additional 411,220 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 643,100 shares in the last quarter. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FRO. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Frontline from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Frontline from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. BTIG Research boosted their price target on Frontline from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Clarkson Capital raised Frontline to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.62.

Frontline Price Performance

NYSE FRO opened at $23.40 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27. Frontline PLC has a 12-month low of $12.40 and a 12-month high of $26.00.

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

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 146.94%.

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.