Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Trading Down 8.7% – Should You Sell?

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX)’s share price fell 8.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $6.57 and last traded at $6.6450. 1,116,478 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 4,103,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.28.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on TROX shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Tronox in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Tronox from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Tronox in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Tronox in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Tronox from $5.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.35.

Tronox Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $6.41 and its 200 day moving average is $4.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 2.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 1.11.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by ($0.17). Tronox had a negative net margin of 16.22% and a negative return on equity of 14.75%. The firm had revenue of $730.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. Tronox’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -6.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alpine Global Management LLC boosted its holdings in Tronox by 897.4% in the fourth quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 21,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 24,231 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Tronox by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 264,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 67,412 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Tronox during the fourth quarter valued at about $77,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Tronox by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 607,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 59,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Tronox by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 583,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 29,308 shares in the last quarter. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tronox Company Profile

Tronox Holdings plc is a vertically integrated global producer of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) pigment and specialty materials. The company’s operations encompass the full supply chain for TiO₂, from mining and processing titanium-bearing ores—such as ilmenite and rutile—to the production of high-purity pigment for use in paints, coatings, plastics, paper and other industrial applications. In addition to TiO₂, Tronox’s product portfolio includes zircon, rare earth byproducts and other specialty minerals that serve a range of industrial markets.

Tronox operates a network of mines, processing facilities and pigment plants located across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and South Africa.