MQS Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Frontline PLC $FRO

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 22,646 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FRO. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Frontline by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,247,120 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $51,212,000 after buying an additional 686,212 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Frontline during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,587,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Frontline by 185.8% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 606,443 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,821,000 after buying an additional 394,226 shares in the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP bought a new position in Frontline during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $5,246,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in Frontline by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,411,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,794,000 after buying an additional 217,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FRO. Dnb Carnegie lowered Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Evercore lowered Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. BTIG Research raised their price objective on Frontline from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered Frontline to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Frontline from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.00.

Frontline Stock Performance

FRO stock opened at $37.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85 and a beta of 0.04. Frontline PLC has a 1 year low of $16.25 and a 1 year high of $39.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.80.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $714.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.59 million. Frontline had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 19.31%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 66.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.18 EPS.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $1.55 dividend. This is an increase from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 16.7%. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 242.35%.

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.