Evercore ISI Cuts Frontline (NYSE:FRO) Price Target to $32.00

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) had its price objective reduced by Evercore ISI from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Frontline from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a buy rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Frontline in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Frontline presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $27.58.

Frontline Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:FRO opened at $23.59 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.25 and a beta of 0.03. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.18. Frontline has a 12 month low of $15.40 and a 12 month high of $29.39.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 30th. The shipping company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $578.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $380.73 million. Frontline had a return on equity of 23.14% and a net margin of 32.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.87 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Frontline will post 3.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FRO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 5,319.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,292,977 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $123,750,000 after buying an additional 5,195,312 shares during the last quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Frontline during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,883,000. M&G Plc acquired a new position in shares of Frontline during the first quarter valued at about $25,074,000. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Frontline by 115.9% during the fourth quarter. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP now owns 1,057,691 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,207,000 after purchasing an additional 567,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradiem LLC purchased a new position in Frontline during the fourth quarter worth about $6,822,000. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.