Frontline Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:FRO)

Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 14,659 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 74% compared to the typical volume of 8,401 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FRO. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Danske cut Frontline to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Frontline from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Evercore lowered Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Pareto Securities downgraded Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $39.46 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Frontline currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.62.

Institutional Trading of Frontline

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Frontline by 1,008.8% in the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 86,573 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,012,000 after purchasing an additional 78,765 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Frontline during the 1st quarter valued at about $412,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Frontline by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Frontline in the first quarter worth approximately $912,000. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in Frontline during the first quarter valued at approximately $175,000. Institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Frontline Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FRO opened at $37.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market cap of $8.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15 and a beta of 0.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.61. Frontline has a fifty-two week low of $18.04 and a fifty-two week high of $43.10.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 22nd. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by ($0.03). Frontline had a net margin of 36.70% and a return on equity of 27.80%. The company had revenue of $714.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $579.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.18 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 66.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.7%. This is a boost from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 152.71%.

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.