Frontline (NYSE:FRO) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $14.27, but opened at $15.40. Frontline shares last traded at $15.54, with a volume of 2,240,719 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research raised shares of 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. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Frontline to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Frontline from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of 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, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.36.

Frontline Trading Up 10.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.12.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 27th. The shipping company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $0.36 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Frontline plc will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Frontline’s payout ratio is 55.51%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Frontline

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Frontline by 234.6% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 35,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 24,620 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Frontline by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 9,840 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Frontline in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Frontline by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 116,988 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,118,000 after purchasing an additional 6,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Frontline Company 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.