Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Raised to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Tronox was upgraded to “Hold” by Wall Street Zen from a previous “sell” rating, adding to a mixed analyst picture around the stock.
• Other firms remain cautious: recent calls include multiple sell or underperform ratings, and MarketBeat says the overall consensus is still “Reduce” with a $6.80 price target.
• The company recently reported Q1 earnings that missed EPS estimates, though revenue slightly topped expectations; Tronox also continues to face weak profitability metrics and insider share sales.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on TROX. Weiss Ratings cut Tronox from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Mizuho upped their price target on Tronox from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Tronox from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Tronox from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $10.00 target price on Tronox in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $6.80.

Tronox Stock Performance

Shares of TROX opened at $7.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.58 and a beta of 0.83. Tronox has a 52 week low of $2.86 and a 52 week high of $10.59.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.55) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.48) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $760.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $751.38 million. Tronox had a negative return on equity of 19.93% and a negative net margin of 15.82%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.15) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Tronox will post -1.21 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John D. Romano sold 101,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total transaction of $669,544.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,473,740 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,711,946.60. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeffrey N. Neuman sold 22,965 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total value of $151,339.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 248,831 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,639,796.29. This represents a 8.45% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 172,711 shares of company stock valued at $1,145,137 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tronox

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Shah Capital Management boosted 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 valued at $12,510,000 after buying an additional 2,600,000 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Tronox by 693.0% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 469,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,886,000 after buying an additional 409,902 shares during the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC boosted its stake in Tronox by 887.3% during the third quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC now owns 689,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,770,000 after buying an additional 619,351 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in Tronox by 47.7% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 1,712,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,883,000 after buying an additional 552,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted 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 valued at $26,270,000 after buying an additional 4,378,023 shares during the last quarter. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Tronox Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.