Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Shares Up 10.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX)’s stock price rose 10.1% during trading on Tuesday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $4.50 to $5.00. Mizuho currently has an underperform rating on the stock. Tronox traded as high as $8.23 and last traded at $8.0920. Approximately 1,296,795 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 4,014,884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.35.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on TROX. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Tronox from $5.25 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Tronox from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tronox in a report on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Tronox from $5.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Tronox in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Five equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tronox currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.40.

Insider Activity at Tronox

In related news, Director Jean Francois Turgeon sold 18,563 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.60, for a total transaction of $122,515.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 754,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,976,459.40. This trade represents a 2.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO John D. Romano sold 101,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total transaction of $669,544.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,473,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,946.60. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 172,711 shares of company stock worth $1,145,137 over the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tronox

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TROX. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Tronox by 693.0% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 469,051 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,886,000 after buying an additional 409,902 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Tronox by 1,712.8% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 848,422 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,302,000 after acquiring an additional 801,620 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Tronox by 244.6% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 147,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 104,381 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Tronox by 887.3% in the third quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 689,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,770,000 after acquiring an additional 619,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tronox in the second quarter valued at about $395,000. Institutional investors own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

Tronox Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $6.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.86 and a beta of 1.11.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $730.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $730.22 million. Tronox had a negative net margin of 16.22% and a negative return on equity of 14.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The company 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 2.4%. Tronox’s payout ratio is presently -6.73%.

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.