Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $21.00 to $18.00. The stock had previously closed at $13.93, but opened at $13.41. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tronox shares last traded at $13.11, with a volume of 138,980 shares traded.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Tronox from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Tronox in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Tronox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Tronox from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tronox

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Tronox by 109.3% during the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,646,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,530,000 after buying an additional 1,381,975 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Tronox during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,152,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Tronox by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,185,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,583,000 after purchasing an additional 876,192 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Tronox by 160.2% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,018,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,664,000 after purchasing an additional 626,744 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Tronox by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,248,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,960,000 after purchasing an additional 597,663 shares during the last quarter. 73.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tronox Trading Down 6.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 26.01 and a beta of 1.64.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.11). Tronox had a negative net margin of 2.14% and a negative return on equity of 3.40%. The business had revenue of $820.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $848.04 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. Tronox’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Tronox Holdings plc will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 26th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Tronox’s payout ratio is -22.42%.

Tronox Company Profile

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.