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

Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 4,374 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 70% compared to the typical volume of 2,580 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FRO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research raised shares of Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.83 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Frontline from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised shares of Frontline to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Frontline has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Frontline

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Godsey & Gibb Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Frontline in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Frontline in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Frontline by 4,965.6% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,711 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 4,618 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Frontline by 124.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,837 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 2,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U S Global Investors Inc. acquired a new position in Frontline in the third quarter worth approximately $135,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Frontline Trading Up 10.9 %

FRO stock traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.83. 4,618,389 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,816,417. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Frontline has a 52-week low of $13.17 and a 52-week high of $29.39. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.65 and its 200-day moving average is $21.12.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 27th. The shipping company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.05). Frontline had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 19.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Frontline will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.59%. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is 55.51%.

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.