Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 149,146 Shares of Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its position in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) by 66.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,292 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 149,146 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Frontline were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Frontline by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,723 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Frontline by 84.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 8,921 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 4,084 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of Frontline by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 143,510 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,279,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Frontline during the 4th quarter worth $84,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc acquired a new position in Frontline in the 3rd quarter worth about $255,000. Institutional investors own 22.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Frontline Stock Performance

Shares of FRO stock opened at $16.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 billion, a PE ratio of 6.63 and a beta of -0.04. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Frontline plc has a one year low of $13.17 and a one year high of $29.39.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The shipping company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.20. The company had revenue of $425.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $273.16 million. Frontline had a net margin of 25.64% and a return on equity of 19.25%. Frontline’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Frontline plc will post 1.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Frontline Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 4.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.04%.

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.