Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Frontline (NYSE:FRO)

Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 8,865 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 96% compared to the average volume of 4,512 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Frontline by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,542 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $235,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Frontline by 59.3% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,657 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Frontline by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 286,612 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,953,000 after acquiring an additional 1,845 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Frontline in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in Frontline in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Frontline Price Performance

Shares of Frontline stock opened at $19.77 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.26. Frontline has a 12 month low of $12.40 and a 12 month high of $26.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.07 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 23rd. The shipping company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. Frontline had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 25.64%. The business had revenue of $427.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $252.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Frontline will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 12th. This represents a yield of 3.97%. Frontline’s payout ratio is 46.15%.

About Frontline

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.