Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Invests $973,000 in Frontline PLC $FRO

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated bought a new stake in Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 42,675 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $973,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FRO. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Frontline in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,672,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Frontline by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 15,262 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 2,630 shares in the last quarter. Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ grew its holdings in Frontline by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ now owns 79,114 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 27,218 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Frontline by 32.9% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 140,958 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,314,000 after buying an additional 34,860 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Frontline by 17,093.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 79,607 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after buying an additional 79,144 shares in the last quarter. 22.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Frontline Stock Down 5.8%

Shares of Frontline stock opened at $20.55 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.54. Frontline PLC has a fifty-two week low of $12.40 and a fifty-two week high of $26.00. The firm has a market cap of $4.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.97 and a beta of 0.08. 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 released its earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The shipping company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.04). Frontline had a return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 12.23%.The firm had revenue of $257.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Frontline’s payout ratio is presently 77.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FRO. Wall Street Zen upgraded Frontline from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Frontline from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. Clarkson Capital upgraded Frontline to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Frontline from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.62.

Frontline 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.