Trexquant Investment LP Has $2.12 Million Stock Position in Tronox Holdings PLC $TROX

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its holdings in Tronox Holdings PLC by 166.7%, acquiring an additional 188,080 shares to own 300,905 shares worth approximately $2.12 million.
• Insiders at Tronox also actively bought shares, with Director Stephen J. Jones and Director Peter Johnston increasing their positions by 18.60% and 11.66%, respectively, in recent trades.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Tronox, with JPMorgan upgrading the stock to "overweight" while Goldman Sachs and UBS downgraded their price targets significantly, demonstrating a divergence in investor sentiment.

Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX - Free Report) by 166.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 300,905 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 188,080 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.19% of Tronox worth $2,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tronox during the fourth quarter worth approximately $105,000. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Tronox by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 101,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Tronox by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,155,105 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,632,000 after purchasing an additional 54,331 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Tronox by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,092,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,999,000 after buying an additional 6,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Tronox by 28.8% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 76,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 17,153 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Tronox

In related news, CEO John D. Romano bought 100,000 shares of Tronox stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.09 per share, for a total transaction of $309,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,333,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,120,468.65. This trade represents a 8.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Peter Johnston bought 20,000 shares of Tronox stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were bought 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 directly owned 191,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,756.73. This represents a 11.66% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 184,750 shares of company stock valued at $579,714 in the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TROX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Tronox from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $3.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Truist Financial set a $5.00 price objective on shares of Tronox in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group lowered shares of Tronox from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $3.60 in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Tronox from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Tronox from $7.00 to $4.50 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Five investment 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 company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.01.

Tronox Price Performance

Tronox stock traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.47. 4,255,385 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,853,463. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 2.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $707.81 million, a P/E ratio of -2.83 and a beta of 1.32. Tronox Holdings PLC has a 12 month low of $2.95 and a 12 month high of $15.07. The business's 50-day moving average is $4.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.51.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $731.00 million for 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 period in the prior year, the company 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 fiscal year.

Tronox Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Tronox's dividend payout ratio is currently -12.66%.

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.