Swiss National Bank Grows Stock Holdings in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO)

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO – Get Rating) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 324,254 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,104 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Frontline were worth $3,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FRO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 461,429 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,061,000 after acquiring an additional 78,255 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 212,836 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,873,000 after acquiring an additional 20,417 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,457,223 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $39,225,000 after acquiring an additional 293,141 shares during the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Frontline in the 1st quarter valued at $112,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 274,217 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,414,000 after acquiring an additional 15,618 shares during the last quarter. 35.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, May 8th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Frontline in a report on Thursday. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Frontline from $16.50 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $15.33.

Frontline Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FRO opened at $14.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.87 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Frontline plc has a 52 week low of $7.51 and a 52 week high of $19.29.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.11). Frontline had a return on equity of 17.23% and a net margin of 33.05%. The firm had revenue of $530.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $363.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.02) earnings per share. Frontline’s revenue for the quarter was up 148.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Frontline plc will post 3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This is a boost from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 15th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 199.07%.

About Frontline

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Frontline Plc is an international shipping company, which engages in the ownership and operation of oil and product tankers. It also offers the seaborne transportation of crude oil and oil products. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Limmasol, Cyprus.