Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Tronox (NYSE:TROX – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on TROX. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Tronox from $16.01 to $18.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Tronox from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an underperform rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Tronox in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Tronox from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $16.88.

Tronox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TROX opened at $12.96 on Thursday. Tronox has a 52 week low of $11.09 and a 52 week high of $21.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.11, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported ($0.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by ($0.29). Tronox had a return on equity of 13.55% and a net margin of 14.39%. The business had revenue of $649.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $659.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Tronox will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 6th. Investors of record on Monday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. Tronox’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Timothy C. Carlson sold 32,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.52, for a total value of $499,169.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 358,106 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,557,805.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jean Francois Turgeon sold 93,942 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.51, for a total transaction of $1,457,040.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 756,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,736,913.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Timothy C. Carlson sold 32,163 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.52, for a total transaction of $499,169.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 358,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,557,805.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 195,487 shares of company stock worth $3,032,725. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 96.9% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 134,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,848,000 after acquiring an additional 66,316 shares in the last quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Tronox by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 584,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,012,000 after acquiring an additional 89,875 shares in the last quarter. Sonic GP LLC purchased a new stake in Tronox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $864,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Tronox by 511.4% during the 4th quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 114,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,573,000 after purchasing an additional 95,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Tronox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $223,000. Institutional investors own 67.30% of the company’s stock.

About Tronox

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Tronox Holdings Plc engages in the mining and inorganic chemical business. Its products include Titanium Dioxide Mineral Sands. The firm also mines and processes titanium ore, zircon and other minerals, and manufactures titanium dioxide pigments. The company was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Stamford, CT.