Comparing Frontline (NYSE:FRO) and Euronav (NYSE:CMBT)

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) and Euronav (NYSE:CMBT) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Frontline has a beta of -0.04, indicating that its stock price is 104% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Euronav has a beta of -0.13, indicating that its stock price is 113% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Frontline and Euronav, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Frontline	0	1	3	1	3.00
Euronav	0	0	0	0	0.00

Frontline presently has a consensus target price of $24.46, suggesting a potential upside of 63.64%. Given Frontline’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Frontline is more favorable than Euronav.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

22.7% of Frontline shares are owned by institutional investors. 48.1% of Frontline shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Frontline pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Euronav pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.7%. Frontline pays out 36.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Euronav pays out 11.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Euronav is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Frontline and Euronav”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Frontline	$2.05 billion	1.62	$656.41 million	$2.22	6.73
Euronav	$940.25 million	1.90	$858.03 million	$4.38	2.09

Euronav has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Frontline. Euronav is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Frontline, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Frontline and Euronav’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Frontline	25.64%	19.25%	7.19%
Euronav	117.02%	22.29%	10.17%

Summary

Frontline beats Euronav on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Euronav

Euronav NV, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the transportation and storage of crude oil worldwide. The company offers floating, storage, and offloading (FSO) services. It also owns and operates a fleet of vessels. The company was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium. As of March 15, 2024, Euronav NV operates as subsidiary of CMB NV.