Virtu Financial LLC Invests $364,000 in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 25,662 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Frontline by 1,326.2% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 527,470 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $12,053,000 after acquiring an additional 490,486 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in Frontline in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,219,000. Cinctive Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 120.8% during the third quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 104,557 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,389,000 after acquiring an additional 57,206 shares during the period. Tejara Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Frontline in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $633,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Frontline during the third quarter worth approximately $998,000. 22.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Frontline Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:FRO opened at $15.74 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.21. Frontline plc has a 1 year low of $13.17 and a 1 year high of $29.39. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.42 and a beta of -0.04.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The company had revenue of $425.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.16 million. Frontline had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 25.64%. Frontline’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Frontline plc will post 1.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Frontline’s payout ratio is presently 36.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FRO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Kepler Capital Markets downgraded Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $15.83 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Frontline from $26.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Frontline currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.46.

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.