Brokerages Set Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) Target Price at $24.62

Shares of Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.6225.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on FRO. 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 research note on Friday, November 21st. Clarkson Capital raised Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Frontline from $22.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Frontline

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Frontline by 691.5% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,632 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 11,036 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Frontline by 155.1% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,692,537 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,775,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,034 shares in the last quarter. Kiker Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Frontline by 839.3% during the third quarter. Kiker Wealth Management LLC now owns 93,926 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,141,000 after purchasing an additional 83,926 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Frontline by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,058,260 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,118,000 after purchasing an additional 180,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in shares of Frontline by 17,093.7% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 79,607 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 79,144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Frontline Stock Performance

Frontline stock opened at $27.04 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.67 and a 200-day moving average of $22.44. The company has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.59 and a beta of 0.08. Frontline has a 1 year low of $12.40 and a 1 year high of $27.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last posted its 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 return on equity of 8.89% and a net margin of 12.23%.The business had revenue of $257.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $265.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Frontline will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. 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.