Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Stake in Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 979,081 shares of the company's stock after selling 98,159 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.62% of Tronox worth $13,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TROX. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Tronox by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,210,243 shares of the company's stock worth $16,266,000 after purchasing an additional 361,727 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Tronox by 2.5% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 132,869 shares of the company's stock worth $1,786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,238 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Tronox by 10.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,851,361 shares of the company's stock worth $24,882,000 after purchasing an additional 169,544 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tronox by 85.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 743,385 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,991,000 after buying an additional 343,240 shares during the period. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Tronox by 371.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 551,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,418,000 after buying an additional 434,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TROX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Tronox from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Tronox from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Tronox from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $14.86.

Tronox Stock Up 12.2 %

Shares of NYSE:TROX traded up $2.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $19.18. The company had a trading volume of 3,335,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,178,687. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The business's 50 day moving average price is $16.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of -9.18, a P/E/G ratio of 22.87 and a beta of 1.91. Tronox Holdings plc has a 1-year low of $10.08 and a 1-year high of $19.75.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $774.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $753.98 million. Tronox had a negative net margin of 11.09% and a negative return on equity of 1.13%. Tronox's revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.15 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Tronox Holdings plc will post 0.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Tronox's dividend payout ratio is presently -24.75%.

Tronox 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.