Evercore Downgrades Frontline (NYSE:FRO) to Hold

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Evercore from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler downgraded Frontline to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Frontline from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Frontline from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, Clarkson Capital raised Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Frontline Stock Down 2.2%

FRO stock opened at $34.60 on Tuesday. Frontline has a twelve month low of $15.17 and a twelve month high of $39.89. The company has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last released its earnings results on Saturday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $624.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $456.90 million. Frontline had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 19.31%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 46.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,785 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $129,966,000 after acquiring an additional 63,432 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,247,120 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $51,212,000 after acquiring an additional 686,212 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,411,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,794,000 after acquiring an additional 217,760 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,058,260 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $24,118,000 after acquiring an additional 180,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 27.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 942,698 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,477,000 after acquiring an additional 202,142 shares in the last quarter. 22.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.