The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Reduces Stake in Frontline PLC $FRO

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in Frontline PLC (NYSE:FRO) by 47.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 357,928 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 324,972 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Frontline were worth $12,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Frontline by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,903,785 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $129,966,000 after acquiring an additional 63,432 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Frontline by 4,659.9% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,783,681 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $202,080,000 after acquiring an additional 5,662,172 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Frontline by 44.0% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,247,120 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $51,212,000 after acquiring an additional 686,212 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Frontline by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,411,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $30,794,000 after purchasing an additional 217,760 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Frontline by 133.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 927,838 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $32,344,000 after purchasing an additional 530,500 shares during the period. 22.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Frontline from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Danske cut shares of Frontline to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Evercore downgraded shares of Frontline from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Pareto Securities lowered shares of Frontline from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $39.46 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, May 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Frontline presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.62.

Frontline Price Performance

FRO opened at $39.36 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.83. Frontline PLC has a 12-month low of $18.26 and a 12-month high of $43.10.

Frontline Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.8%. This is a boost from Frontline’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Frontline’s payout ratio is currently 152.71%.

Frontline Profile

Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO) is a leading global shipping company specializing in the seaborne transportation of crude oil and petroleum products. The company’s core business activities encompass the ownership and operation of very large crude carriers (VLCCs), Suezmax tankers and Aframax vessels. Through long-term charters, spot market operations and time charters, Frontline provides flexible shipping solutions that cater to a diverse set of energy producers, refiners and trading houses worldwide.

Frontline’s fleet is geared toward high-capacity, ocean-going tankers capable of carrying large volumes of crude oil over intercontinental distances.