Frontline (NYSE:FRO) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $29.69 and last traded at $30.1840, with a volume of 28238 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Clarkson Capital raised Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Frontline from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Frontline from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Frontline from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.87.

Frontline Trading Up 2.2%

The stock has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.32 and a beta of 0.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last released its 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 net margin of 12.23% and a return on equity of 8.89%. The firm had revenue of $257.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $265.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Frontline PLC will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Frontline

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Frontline by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,785 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after buying an additional 63,432 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Frontline by 44.0% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,247,120 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $51,212,000 after acquiring an additional 686,212 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Frontline by 155.1% during the second 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. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Frontline by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,411,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,794,000 after acquiring an additional 217,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Frontline by 20.6% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,058,260 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,118,000 after acquiring an additional 180,731 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

About Frontline

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.