Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Shares Up 16% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX) traded up 16% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $7.75 and last traded at $7.7480. 1,136,472 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 4,020,848 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.68.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on TROX. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Tronox from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Tronox in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Tronox from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Tronox from $5.25 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Tronox from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.35.

Tronox Trading Up 14.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.57 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.97.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $730.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $730.22 million. Tronox had a negative net margin of 16.22% and a negative return on equity of 14.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Tronox’s payout ratio is -6.73%.

Insider Activity at Tronox

In other news, SVP Jeffrey A. Engle sold 14,575 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.60, for a total transaction of $96,195.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 175,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,156,656.60. The trade was a 7.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John D. Romano sold 101,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total value of $669,544.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 172,711 shares of company stock worth $1,145,137. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tronox

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TROX. Alpine Global Management LLC increased its position in shares of Tronox by 897.4% in the fourth quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 21,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 24,231 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Tronox by 34.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 264,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after acquiring an additional 67,412 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Tronox in the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Tronox by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 607,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,535,000 after purchasing an additional 59,648 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC grew its position in Tronox by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC now owns 583,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 29,308 shares in the last quarter. 73.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tronox Company Profile

Tronox Holdings plc is a vertically integrated global producer of titanium dioxide (TiO?) pigment and specialty materials. The company’s operations encompass the full supply chain for TiO?, 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 TiO?, 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.