Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.06.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TROX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Tronox from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $5.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Tronox from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Tronox from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $7.00 to $3.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Tronox from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Tronox from $11.50 to $7.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Tronox Price Performance

Shares of TROX opened at $5.36 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $5.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.91. Tronox has a fifty-two week low of $4.35 and a fifty-two week high of $17.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $848.55 million, a PE ratio of -5.64 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 2.28.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.17). Tronox had a negative return on equity of 1.57% and a negative net margin of 4.94%. The business had revenue of $738.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $745.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.05) EPS. Tronox’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Tronox will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.34%. Tronox’s payout ratio is currently -52.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tronox

In other Tronox news, SVP Jeffrey N. Neuman acquired 10,266 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.89 per share, for a total transaction of $50,200.74. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president directly owned 10,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,200.74. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tronox

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in Tronox by 832.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 3,397 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Tronox by 48.9% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 9,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Tronox by 763.5% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 8,070 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its position in Tronox by 1,186.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 9,897 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Tronox by 1,070.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 10,295 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

About Tronox

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.