Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Has $2.77 Million Stock Position in Frontline PLC $FRO

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) by 73.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,474 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,712 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Frontline were worth $2,772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Frontline during the first quarter worth approximately $1,151,000. WIT Partners Advisory Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Frontline in the 1st quarter worth approximately $5,214,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 4,659.9% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,783,681 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $202,080,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662,172 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,411,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,794,000 after acquiring an additional 217,760 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG purchased a new position in shares of Frontline during the 4th quarter valued at $362,000. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FRO. Pareto Securities lowered Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $39.46 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, May 25th. BTIG Research boosted their target price on Frontline from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen raised Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Frontline from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore lowered Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.62.

Frontline Stock Performance

Shares of FRO opened at $39.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.46 and its 200-day moving average is $34.77. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Frontline PLC has a 12 month low of $18.26 and a 12 month high of $43.10.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 15.8%. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 152.71%.

Frontline Company 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.