Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes Position in Tronox Holdings PLC $TROX

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. invested $665,000 in Tronox Holdings PLC by acquiring 94,482 shares, marking a new stake in the company during the first quarter.
• Tronox recently announced a dividend of $0.05 per share with a dividend yield of 629.0%, but the company has a negative payout ratio of -12.66%.
• The company's stock faced analyst downgrades with targets dropping, including Morgan Stanley reducing its price objective from $8.00 to $4.00, reflecting a cautious outlook on Tronox's performance.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 94,482 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $665,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.06% of Tronox as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of TROX. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Tronox by 832.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,805 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 3,397 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Tronox by 763.5% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,127 shares of the company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 8,070 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Tronox by 1,186.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,731 shares of the company's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 9,897 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Tronox by 1,070.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,257 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 10,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Tronox during the first quarter worth $102,000. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on TROX shares. UBS Group downgraded Tronox from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $8.00 to $3.60 in a report on Monday, August 4th. Truist Financial set a $5.00 price target on Tronox in a report on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Tronox from $7.00 to $4.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Tronox from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Tronox from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.01.

Tronox Trading Up 13.8%

Shares of TROX stock traded up $0.5050 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $4.1750. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,175,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,509,643. The stock has a market capitalization of $661.82 million, a P/E ratio of -2.64 and a beta of 1.35. Tronox Holdings PLC has a one year low of $2.95 and a one year high of $15.07. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $4.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $731.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $802.03 million. Tronox had a negative return on equity of 4.83% and a negative net margin of 8.48%.Tronox's quarterly revenue was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. Tronox has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 EPS for the current year.

Tronox Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a $0.05 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 629.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Tronox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -12.66%.

Insider Transactions at Tronox

In other Tronox news, CEO John D. Romano acquired 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.09 per share, for a total transaction of $309,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,333,485 shares in the company, valued at $4,120,468.65. This represents a 8.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Peter Johnston acquired 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.21 per share, for a total transaction of $64,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 191,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $614,756.73. The trade was a 11.66% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 184,750 shares of company stock worth $579,714. Corporate insiders own 1.70% 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.