Traders Buy High Volume of Frontline Call Options (NYSE:FRO)

Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 4,374 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 70% compared to the typical volume of 2,580 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FRO has been the topic of several research reports. BTIG Research raised shares of Frontline from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded shares of Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.83 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Frontline from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of Frontline to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.36.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Frontline

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Frontline by 234.6% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 35,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $905,000 after acquiring an additional 24,620 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Frontline by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 9,840 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Frontline in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in shares of Frontline by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 116,988 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,933 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 7.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,932,842 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $50,683,000 after purchasing an additional 138,011 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Frontline Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:FRO opened at $15.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.01. Frontline has a 1-year low of $13.17 and a 1-year high of $29.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.47 and a beta of 0.01.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 27th. The shipping company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.05). Frontline had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 19.25%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Frontline will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 11th were given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 11th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.51%.

Frontline Company Profile

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.