Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Shares Up 6.5% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Tronox's shares surged 6.5%, reaching a high of $3.97, with significant trading volume decline of 58% from average levels.
• Wall Street analysts have varied ratings, with a consensus average price target of $5.10, while some firms have low targets as $3.00.
• Tronox reported a negative earnings per share of ($0.28), missing estimates and reflecting a 10.9% year-over-year revenue decline.

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) shot up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $3.97 and last traded at $3.87. 1,334,612 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 3,173,157 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TROX. Alembic Global Advisors reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $6.00 target price on shares of Tronox in a research note on Monday, September 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Tronox in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Mizuho set a $3.50 target price on shares of Tronox in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Tronox from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $7.00 to $3.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Tronox from $3.60 to $3.90 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Tronox presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.10.

Tronox Stock Up 10.6%

The company has a market capitalization of $636.46 million, a PE ratio of -2.55 and a beta of 1.28. The company's 50 day moving average is $4.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $731.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $802.03 million. Tronox had a negative net margin of 8.48% and a negative return on equity of 4.83%. The business's revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. Tronox has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Tronox Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Tronox's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -12.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tronox

In other Tronox news, Director Jean Francois Turgeon acquired 31,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $3.21 per share, for a total transaction of $99,991.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 772,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,479,956.12. This trade represents a 4.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John D. Romano acquired 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $3.09 per share, with a total value of $309,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,333,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,120,468.65. The trade was a 8.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 184,750 shares of company stock valued at $579,714 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tronox

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tronox by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 648,623 shares of the company's stock worth $2,607,000 after acquiring an additional 245,805 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tronox by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 374,699 shares of the company's stock worth $1,900,000 after acquiring an additional 74,328 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Tronox in the 2nd quarter worth about $185,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tronox in the 2nd quarter worth about $514,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Tronox during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 73.36% of the company's stock.

Tronox Company 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.

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