Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 8,400 Shares of Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:KRO)

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:KRO) by 1.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 660,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,400 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.57% of Kronos Worldwide worth $8,289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kronos Worldwide by 9,905.7% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 8,717 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in Kronos Worldwide during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Kronos Worldwide in the second quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Kronos Worldwide in the first quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of Kronos Worldwide by 3.7% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 32,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Kronos Worldwide from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kronos Worldwide has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.67.

Kronos Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of KRO stock opened at $12.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 3.61. Kronos Worldwide, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.16 and a 52 week high of $14.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $11.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.05. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.17 and a beta of 1.15.

Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $500.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $504.19 million. Kronos Worldwide had a return on equity of 0.24% and a net margin of 0.11%. On average, analysts expect that Kronos Worldwide, Inc. will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kronos Worldwide Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Kronos Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently -86.96%.

About Kronos Worldwide

Kronos Worldwide, Inc produces and markets titanium dioxide pigments (TiO2) in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company produces TiO2 in two crystalline forms, rutile and anatase to impart whiteness, brightness, opacity, and durability for various products, including paints, coatings, plastics, paper, fibers, and ceramics, as well as for various specialty products, such as inks, foods, and cosmetics.