Tronox Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:TROX)

Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 5,301 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,478% compared to the average daily volume of 336 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TROX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Tronox from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Tronox from $13.00 to $11.50 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Tronox from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Tronox from $16.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Tronox from $14.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stephen J. Jones purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $7.17 per share, with a total value of $215,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,000 shares in the company, valued at $215,100. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tronox

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,650,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,390,000 after acquiring an additional 193,895 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 6,938,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,869,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,804 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,060,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,034,000 after acquiring an additional 781,223 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 2,799,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,187,000 after acquiring an additional 139,401 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,630,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,486,000 after acquiring an additional 551,645 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

Tronox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TROX opened at $5.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $6.51 and a 200 day moving average of $9.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $882.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.03 and a beta of 1.53. Tronox has a 12-month low of $4.35 and a 12-month high of $20.70.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.03). Tronox had a negative net margin of 1.56% and a negative return on equity of 0.63%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Tronox will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio is currently -161.29%.

About Tronox

Tronox Holdings plc operates as a vertically integrated manufacturer of TiO2 pigment in North America, South and Central America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates titanium-bearing mineral sand mines; and engages in beneficiation and smelting operations. It offers TiO2 pigment; ultrafine specialty TiO2; zircon; feedstock; pig iron; monazite; titanium tetrachloride; and other products.