Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $9.09 and last traded at $8.7660, with a volume of 953556 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on TROX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Tronox in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Mizuho upped their price target on Tronox from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded Tronox from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Tronox in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Tronox in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.40.

Tronox Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $730.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.22 million. Tronox had a negative net margin of 16.22% and a negative return on equity of 14.75%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. Tronox’s payout ratio is -6.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John D. Romano sold 101,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total value of $669,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,473,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,711,946.60. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jean Francois Turgeon sold 18,563 shares of Tronox stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.60, for a total value of $122,515.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 754,009 shares in the company, valued at $4,976,459.40. This represents a 2.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 172,711 shares of company stock valued at $1,145,137. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tronox

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TROX. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tronox by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 60,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Tronox by 27.5% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,496 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd grew its position in Tronox by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd now owns 19,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Tronox by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 70,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 3,042 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in Tronox by 38.3% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 13,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 3,775 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

About Tronox

Tronox Holdings plc is a vertically integrated global producer of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) pigment and specialty materials. The company’s operations encompass the full supply chain for TiO₂, from mining and processing titanium-bearing ores—such as ilmenite and rutile—to the production of high-purity pigment for use in paints, coatings, plastics, paper and other industrial applications. In addition to TiO₂, Tronox’s product portfolio includes zircon, rare earth byproducts and other specialty minerals that serve a range of industrial markets.

Tronox operates a network of mines, processing facilities and pigment plants located across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and South Africa.