Frontline (NYSE:FRO) & Flex LNG (NYSE:FLNG) Head to Head Analysis

Flex LNG (NYSE:FLNG) and Frontline (NYSE:FRO) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, earnings and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Flex LNG and Frontline, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Flex LNG	0	3	0	0	2.00
Frontline	1	2	3	0	2.33

Flex LNG presently has a consensus price target of $23.00, suggesting a potential downside of 9.41%. Frontline has a consensus price target of $24.62, suggesting a potential upside of 8.35%. Given Frontline’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Frontline is more favorable than Flex LNG.

Profitability

This table compares Flex LNG and Frontline’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Flex LNG	28.06%	14.04%	4.09%
Frontline	12.23%	8.89%	3.44%

Dividends

Flex LNG pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.8%. Frontline pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Flex LNG pays out 163.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Frontline pays out 146.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Flex LNG and Frontline”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Flex LNG	$351.03 million	3.90	$117.68 million	$1.83	13.87
Frontline	$2.16 billion	2.34	$495.58 million	$0.98	23.19

Frontline has higher revenue and earnings than Flex LNG. Flex LNG is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Frontline, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

22.7% of Frontline shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Flex LNG shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 48.1% of Frontline shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Flex LNG has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Frontline has a beta of 0.06, indicating that its share price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Frontline beats Flex LNG on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Flex LNG

FLEX LNG Ltd. engages in the seaborne transportation of liquefied natural gas (LPG) through the ownership and operation of LNG carriers. The company was founded by Philip Eystein Fjeld, Trym Tveitnes and Jostein Ueland in September 2006 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

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.