Insider Buying: Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX) Director Purchases 6,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Stephen J. Jones purchased 6,000 shares of Tronox Holdings PLC stock at an average price of $3.32 per share, increasing his total holdings to 36,000 shares, valued at $119,520.
• Tronox reported a quarterly loss of ($0.28) earnings per share, missing estimates and reflecting a 10.9% year-over-year revenue decline of $731 million.
• Analysts have lowered their price targets for Tronox, with recent estimates ranging between $3.60 and $8.00, reflecting caution about the stock's performance amidst ongoing challenges.

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) Director Stephen J. Jones bought 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.32 per share, with a total value of $19,920.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 36,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $119,520. This represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Tronox Price Performance

NYSE TROX traded down $0.08 on Friday, hitting $3.15. 4,457,251 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,237,048. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.27. Tronox Holdings PLC has a 52-week low of $2.95 and a 52-week high of $15.07.

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 firm had revenue of $731.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $802.03 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Tronox Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 12th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 629.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Tronox's payout ratio is -31.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Tronox from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $5.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, May 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Barclays cut their price objective on Tronox from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Mizuho cut their price target on Tronox from $6.00 to $5.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $5.00 price target on Tronox in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $5.01.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Tronox by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,650,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,390,000 after acquiring an additional 193,895 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Tronox by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,060,943 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,034,000 after buying an additional 781,223 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its position in Tronox by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 2,868,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,197,000 after buying an additional 69,726 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tronox by 15.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,832,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,941,000 after purchasing an additional 375,643 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tronox by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,826,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,329,000 after purchasing an additional 31,538 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.36% 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.