Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 133,400 Shares of Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its position in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,209,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 133,400 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.54% of Frontline worth $31,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in Frontline by 6.3% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 116,988 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,118,000 after purchasing an additional 6,933 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Frontline in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Frontline by 9.7% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 9,840 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Frontline by 6.4% in the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,976 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in Frontline by 234.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 35,116 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 24,620 shares during the last quarter. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on FRO. StockNews.com upgraded Frontline to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Frontline in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Frontline from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.58.

Frontline Price Performance

Shares of FRO stock opened at $23.93 on Friday. Frontline plc has a fifty-two week low of $16.95 and a fifty-two week high of $29.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.28 and a beta of 0.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.45.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 30th. The shipping company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $409.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $383.88 million. Frontline had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 29.42%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Frontline plc will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Frontline Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.36%. Frontline’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.71%.

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.