Frontline (NYSE:FRO) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Frontline (NYSE:FRO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Pareto Securities lowered Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $39.46 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, May 25th. BTIG Research raised their price target on Frontline from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Evercore lowered Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Frontline from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Danske downgraded Frontline to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.62.

Frontline Price Performance

FRO opened at $42.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.02. Frontline has a fifty-two week low of $18.43 and a fifty-two week high of $43.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This is a positive change from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 152.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Frontline

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Frontline by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,785 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after buying an additional 63,432 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Frontline by 4,659.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,783,681 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $202,080,000 after buying an additional 5,662,172 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Frontline by 44.0% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,247,120 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $51,212,000 after acquiring an additional 686,212 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Frontline in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $50,846,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in Frontline by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,411,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,794,000 after acquiring an additional 217,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

About Frontline

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.