Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 198,739 Shares of Tronox Holdings PLC $TROX

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Tronox Holdings PLC by 1.6% during Q1, retaining 12.45 million shares worth approximately $87.66 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Tronox, with Sterling Capital Management LLC growing its stake by 832.6% in Q4.
• CEO John D. Romano and Director Peter Johnston recently purchased shares, reflecting confidence in the company's performance despite a negative earnings report for the previous quarter.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,451,704 shares of the company's stock after selling 198,739 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 7.88% of Tronox worth $87,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in Tronox by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 101,264 shares of the company's stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Tronox by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 67,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Tronox by 16.4% in the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 16,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Tronox by 6.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares during the period. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Tronox by 832.6% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,805 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TROX shares. UBS Group cut shares of Tronox from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $8.00 to $3.60 in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Tronox from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Tronox from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Tronox from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $7.00 to $3.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $5.00 price target on shares of Tronox in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $5.01.

Insider Transactions at Tronox

In related news, CEO John D. Romano acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.09 per share, for a total transaction of $309,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,333,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,120,468.65. This trade 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter Johnston acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director owned 191,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $614,756.73. This trade represents a 11.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 184,750 shares of company stock valued at $579,714. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Tronox Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:TROX traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $4.17. 1,992,260 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,544,359. Tronox Holdings PLC has a one year low of $2.95 and a one year high of $15.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.71. The company has a market cap of $660.26 million, a PE ratio of -2.64 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Tronox Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Tronox's dividend payout ratio is currently -12.66%.

Tronox Company Profile

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.