Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 164,776 Shares of Frontline PLC $FRO

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,840,353 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 164,776 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc.’s holdings in Frontline were worth $133,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FRO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Frontline by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 561,525 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,797,000 after purchasing an additional 11,941 shares during the period. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in shares of Frontline by 59.4% in the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,214 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $233,000 after buying an additional 3,807 shares during the period. Ruffer LLP acquired a new stake in Frontline during the third quarter worth about $2,845,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Frontline by 2.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,717 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in Frontline during the third quarter valued at about $285,000. Institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Frontline Stock Down 6.2%

FRO opened at $37.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.28 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.76. Frontline PLC has a twelve month low of $12.40 and a twelve month high of $39.89.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 27th. The shipping company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $424.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $456.90 million. Frontline had a net margin of 19.31% and a return on equity of 16.81%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Frontline PLC will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 12th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.1%. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on FRO. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Frontline from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Dnb Carnegie cut Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Frontline in a research note on Friday. Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Frontline in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Frontline currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.62.

Frontline Company Profile

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.