Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Stock Moved Down to “Strong Sell” by Zacks Research

by · The Cerbat Gem

Zacks Research lowered shares of Tronox (NYSE:TROX – Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Thursday,Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on TROX. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Tronox in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Tronox from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $7.00 to $5.00 in a report on Thursday, August 13th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Tronox from $7.00 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Tronox from $6.50 to $4.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Tronox from $5.50 to $4.50 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tronox has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.83.

View Our Latest Research Report on TROX

Tronox Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of TROX traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $3.46. 1,518,777 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,237,751. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.67. Tronox has a 12-month low of $2.86 and a 12-month high of $10.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market cap of $553.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.00 and a beta of 0.92.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.51) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.13). Tronox had a negative net margin of 17.96% and a negative return on equity of 24.34%. The firm had revenue of $868.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $832.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.28) earnings per share. Tronox’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Tronox will post -1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio is -5.78%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tronox

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new stake in Tronox during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Shah Capital Management grew its position in shares of Tronox by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 2,915,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,517,000 after acquiring an additional 344,993 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tronox in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tronox in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,355,000. Finally, AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Tronox in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $198,000. 73.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Tronox

(Get Free Report)

Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) is a global producer of titanium dioxide pigment, a white pigment used to provide brightness, opacity and durability in products such as paints and coatings, plastics, paper and specialty materials. The company also produces titanium feedstocks, including titanium slag and synthetic rutile, as well as zircon and other mineral-sands products.

Tronox operates an integrated business that spans the mining and processing of mineral sands, the production of titanium feedstocks and the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigment.

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