The Goldman Sachs Group Downgrades Tronox (NYSE:TROX) to Sell

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs downgraded Tronox from “buy” to “sell” and kept a $9.00 price target, implying only limited upside from the current share price.
• The stock fell 6.1% to $8.76 on Tuesday, with trading volume below its average and the shares still below their 52-week high of $10.59.
• Tronox’s latest earnings missed EPS expectations, reporting a loss of $0.55 per share versus the expected $0.48 loss, even though revenue came in slightly above forecasts at $760 million.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. They presently have a $9.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price points to a potential upside of 2.76% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Tronox from $7.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Tronox from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Tronox in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Tronox from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Tronox from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $6.60.

Tronox Trading Down 6.1%

Shares of Tronox stock traded down $0.57 on Tuesday, hitting $8.76. 729,175 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,693,602. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16. The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of -2.99 and a beta of 0.83. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $8.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.28. Tronox has a 52 week low of $2.86 and a 52 week high of $10.59.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.07). Tronox had a negative return on equity of 19.13% and a negative net margin of 15.82%.The firm had revenue of $760.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $751.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.15) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Tronox will post -1.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tronox news, CEO John D. Romano sold 101,600 shares of Tronox stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total value of $669,544.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,473,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,711,946.60. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan Flood sold 8,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total value of $52,692.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 92,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $611,025.38. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 172,711 shares of company stock valued at $1,145,137 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TROX. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tronox during the first quarter worth about $1,188,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Tronox by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 70,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 3,042 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Tronox by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 366,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,578,000 after purchasing an additional 41,092 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Tronox by 93.2% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 118,637 shares of the company's stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 57,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Tronox in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,000. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Tronox

Tronox Holdings plc is a vertically integrated global producer of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) pigment and specialty materials. The company's operations encompass the full supply chain for TiO₂, from mining and processing titanium-bearing ores—such as ilmenite and rutile—to the production of high-purity pigment for use in paints, coatings, plastics, paper and other industrial applications. In addition to TiO₂, Tronox's product portfolio includes zircon, rare earth byproducts and other specialty minerals that serve a range of industrial markets.

Tronox operates a network of mines, processing facilities and pigment plants located across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and South Africa.

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