Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Tronox (NYSE:TROX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

TROX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on Tronox from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Tronox from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $14.86.

Tronox Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE TROX opened at $17.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.75, a P/E/G ratio of 23.53 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. Tronox has a 12-month low of $10.08 and a 12-month high of $17.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.99.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported ($0.38) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.33). Tronox had a negative return on equity of 1.13% and a negative net margin of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $686.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $668.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.17) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Tronox will post 0.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio is currently -24.75%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tronox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $333,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 4,822 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 27,103 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tronox by 85.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 743,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,991,000 after buying an additional 343,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp acquired a new stake in Tronox in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

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.