Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an underweight rating. The stock had previously closed at $6.17, but opened at $5.58. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $5.00 price target on the stock. Tronox shares last traded at $6.0340, with a volume of 541,813 shares trading hands.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on TROX. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Tronox from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 6th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Tronox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $7.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Tronox from $9.00 to $6.50 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Tronox in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $10.00 target price on shares of Tronox in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tronox currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tronox

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Tronox during the first quarter worth about $1,188,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Tronox by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 70,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 3,042 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Tronox by 12.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 366,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,578,000 after purchasing an additional 41,092 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Tronox by 93.2% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 118,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 57,237 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Tronox during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $79,000. 73.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tronox Stock Down 2.4%

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $6.57 and its 200 day moving average is $7.57. The company has a market capitalization of $961.11 million, a PE ratio of -1.74 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 2.55.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $868.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $832.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.28) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tronox Holdings PLC will post -1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -5.78%.

Tronox Company Profile

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.