Frontline PLC $FRO Stake Lifted by Osaic Holdings Inc.

Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 140,958 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,860 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Frontline were worth $2,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FRO. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Frontline in the 1st quarter worth about $45,026,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew 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 worth $27,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,034 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Frontline by 28.3% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,560,908 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,614,000 after purchasing an additional 344,706 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Frontline by 27.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 942,698 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,477,000 after purchasing an additional 202,142 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $14,400,000 after buying an additional 643,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FRO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Clarkson Capital upgraded Frontline to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Frontline from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Frontline from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Frontline from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Frontline has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.62.

Frontline Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of FRO stock opened at $21.85 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29 and a beta of 0.06. Frontline PLC has a fifty-two week low of $12.40 and a fifty-two week high of $26.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The shipping company reported $0.19 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $257.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $265.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Frontline PLC will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is currently 77.55%.

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.