Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 30,921 Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 30,921 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 65.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 71,972 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after purchasing an additional 28,478 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Frontline in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Frontline in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $342,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Frontline by 164.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 28,053 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 17,428 shares during the period. Finally, Tejara Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Frontline in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $633,000. Institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FRO shares. Kepler Capital Markets set a $12.49 price objective on Frontline in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Frontline from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.62.

Frontline Stock Performance

NYSE:FRO opened at $18.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 7.48 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. Frontline plc has a fifty-two week low of $12.40 and a fifty-two week high of $29.39.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The business had revenue of $425.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $273.16 million. Frontline had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Frontline plc will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

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.