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

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Tronox from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Tronox from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $14.86.

Tronox Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE TROX opened at $17.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.93. Tronox has a 1-year low of $10.08 and a 1-year high of $17.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 2.84.

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

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -24.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tronox

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Tronox by 42.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,210,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,266,000 after acquiring an additional 361,727 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Tronox by 2.5% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 132,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,786,000 after buying an additional 3,238 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tronox by 10.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,851,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,882,000 after buying an additional 169,544 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tronox by 85.8% during the third quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 743,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,991,000 after buying an additional 343,240 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Tronox by 371.6% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 551,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,418,000 after buying an additional 434,900 shares during the period. 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.