Frontline Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:FRO)

Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 14,659 call options on the company. This is an increase of 74% compared to the typical daily volume of 8,401 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Frontline

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRO. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Frontline by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,785 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $129,966,000 after buying an additional 63,432 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Frontline by 4,659.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,783,681 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $202,080,000 after purchasing an additional 5,662,172 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Frontline by 44.0% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,247,120 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $51,212,000 after purchasing an additional 686,212 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 217,760 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Frontline by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 942,698 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $15,477,000 after buying an additional 202,142 shares in the last quarter. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Frontline Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FRO traded down $0.42 on Wednesday, hitting $37.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,107,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,533,201. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $37.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. Frontline has a twelve month low of $18.04 and a twelve month high of $43.10. The company has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 0.01.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.58 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $714.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $579.59 million. Frontline had a net margin of 36.70% and a return on equity of 27.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 66.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.18 earnings per share.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $1.55 dividend. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 16.3%. This is an increase from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is presently 152.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. BTIG Research upped their price target on Frontline from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Frontline from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Pareto Securities cut Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $39.46 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Finally, Evercore downgraded shares of Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Frontline presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.62.

About Frontline

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.