Verition Fund Management LLC Takes $448,000 Position in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO)

Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 19,620 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Frontline by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,932,842 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $50,683,000 after purchasing an additional 138,011 shares during the last quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP raised its stake in Frontline by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,429,909 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $36,834,000 after purchasing an additional 161,518 shares during the last quarter. M&G PLC raised its stake in Frontline by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 1,110,763 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,164,000 after purchasing an additional 237,446 shares during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Frontline by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 670,581 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,188,000 after purchasing an additional 32,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Frontline by 1,326.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 527,470 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,053,000 after purchasing an additional 490,486 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.83 target price for the company. in a research note on Thursday. Fearnley Fonds raised Frontline to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com raised Frontline to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Frontline in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, BTIG Research raised Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Frontline presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.36.

Frontline Stock Down 3.6 %

Shares of FRO opened at $13.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 billion and a P/E ratio of 5.60. Frontline plc has a 12-month low of $13.71 and a 12-month high of $29.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 27th. The shipping company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.05). Frontline had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 19.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Frontline plc will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 11th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.51%.

Frontline Profile

Frontline plc, a shipping company, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oil and oil products worldwide. It owns and operates oil and product tankers. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated a fleet of 70 vessels. It is also involved in the charter, purchase, and sale of vessels. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in Limassol, Cyprus.