Short Interest in Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO) Expands By 13.9%

Frontline plc (NYSE:FRO - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,950,000 shares, an increase of 13.9% from the February 29th total of 6,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,350,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 4.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Frontline

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Frontline by 27.9% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 628 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders raised its position in Frontline by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 15,612 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Frontline by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 96,726 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 833 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Frontline by 71.9% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,999 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Credit Suisse AG raised its position in shares of Frontline by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 112,105 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,361,000 after buying an additional 1,153 shares during the last quarter. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Frontline Stock Performance

Shares of FRO traded down $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $23.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,465,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,312,835. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.40. Frontline has a fifty-two week low of $13.35 and a fifty-two week high of $24.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.01 and a beta of 0.06.

Frontline (NYSE:FRO - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The shipping company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $415.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $280.36 million. Frontline had a net margin of 35.95% and a return on equity of 26.00%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Frontline will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Frontline's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.27%. Frontline's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Frontline from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Frontline from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Frontline from $23.00 to $22.30 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Frontline from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th.

About Frontline

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.

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