Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Stock Price Up 6.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) traded up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $10.81 and last traded at $10.80. 562,557 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 1,102,987 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.14.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Tronox from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Tronox from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Tronox from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Tronox from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.00.

Tronox Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.18. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.94 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $804.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $790.63 million. Tronox had a negative net margin of 2.40% and a negative return on equity of 3.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Analysts forecast that Tronox Holdings plc will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio is currently -104.17%.

Institutional Trading of Tronox

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Tronox by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,713,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,708,000 after buying an additional 22,165 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Tronox by 320.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 182,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 139,161 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Tronox during the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of Tronox by 38.0% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 53,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 14,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Tronox by 41.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 99,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 29,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.