Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is cautious: Tronox has a consensus rating of “Reduce” from 12 analysts, with four sell ratings, five holds, and three buys. The average 12-month price target is $6.60.
• Recent earnings missed expectations: The company reported a quarterly loss of $0.55 per share, worse than the expected $0.48 loss, though revenue of $760 million slightly beat estimates and rose 3% year over year.
• Insiders sold shares while the stock fell: Tronox shares were down 6.1% to $8.77, and insiders sold a combined 172,711 shares over the last three months. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.05 per share, yielding about 2.3%.

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Reduce" from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.60.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on TROX shares. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Tronox from $7.50 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $8.00 price target on shares of Tronox in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Tronox from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Tronox from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Tronox from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Activity

In other Tronox news, insider Jonathan Flood sold 8,008 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total transaction of $52,692.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 92,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $611,025.38. This represents a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jeffrey N. Neuman sold 22,965 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total transaction of $151,339.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 248,831 shares in the company, valued at $1,639,796.29. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 172,711 shares of company stock valued at $1,145,137. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Tronox

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TROX. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Tronox by 203.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,534,894 shares of the company's stock worth $26,270,000 after buying an additional 4,378,023 shares during the last quarter. Shah Capital Management grew its stake in Tronox by 650.0% during the fourth quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock worth $12,510,000 after buying an additional 2,600,000 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its stake in Tronox by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,347,134 shares of the company's stock worth $18,128,000 after buying an additional 2,398,038 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in Tronox during the third quarter worth about $6,552,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Tronox by 199.3% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,059,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,277,000 after purchasing an additional 1,371,158 shares during the last quarter. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Tronox Stock Down 6.1%

Shares of TROX opened at $8.77 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.00 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 2.42. Tronox has a 52 week low of $2.86 and a 52 week high of $10.59.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by ($0.07). Tronox had a negative return on equity of 19.93% and a negative net margin of 15.82%.The business had revenue of $760.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $751.38 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.15) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Tronox will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. Tronox's dividend payout ratio is currently -6.85%.

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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