Wexford Capital LP Invests $312,000 in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO)

Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Frontline by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,493,085 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $75,502,000 after buying an additional 51,073 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in Frontline in the fourth quarter valued at $41,447,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Frontline by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,378,037 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $19,554,000 after buying an additional 297,437 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Frontline by 137.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,090,427 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,473,000 after buying an additional 630,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hartree Partners LP increased its holdings in Frontline by 482.6% in the fourth quarter. Hartree Partners LP now owns 1,061,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $15,047,000 after buying an additional 878,885 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Frontline Stock Up 0.5%

FRO stock opened at $18.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Frontline plc has a 52 week low of $12.40 and a 52 week high of $29.39.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20. The firm had revenue of $425.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.16 million. Frontline had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Frontline’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Frontline plc will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. Frontline’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

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.