Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Trading Down 4.9% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Tronox Holdings' stock price dropped 4.9% to $3.24, following a trading volume increase of 12% compared to its average.
• Multiple analysts have downgraded Tronox's ratings and price targets, with Goldman Sachs lowering its target from $11.50 to $7.50 and BMO cutting it from $7.00 to $3.00.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings report showed a miss on EPS estimates and a year-over-year revenue decline of 10.9%, indicating significant financial challenges.

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 4.9% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $3.22 and last traded at $3.24. 3,127,366 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 2,789,361 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TROX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial set a $5.00 target price on Tronox in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their price target on Tronox from $13.00 to $8.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Tronox from $8.00 to $4.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered Tronox from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $7.00 to $3.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Tronox from $11.50 to $7.50 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Tronox has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.39.

Tronox Trading Down 4.1%

The firm has a market cap of $506.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.01 and a beta of 1.35. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.44.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.28) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $731.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $802.03 million. Tronox had a negative return on equity of 4.83% and a negative net margin of 8.48%. Tronox's quarterly revenue was down 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Tronox

In other Tronox news, SVP Jeffrey A. Engle acquired 12,600 shares of Tronox stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.07 per share, for a total transaction of $38,682.00. Following the purchase, the senior vice president directly owned 146,926 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,062.82. This represents a 9.38% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John D. Romano bought 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $3.09 per share, with a total value of $309,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,333,485 shares in the company, valued at $4,120,468.65. The trade was a 8.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 118,600 shares of company stock valued at $367,602. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Tronox by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,650,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,390,000 after buying an additional 193,895 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew 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 worth $61,034,000 after purchasing an additional 781,223 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its position in shares of Tronox by 2.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 69,726 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tronox by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,832,510 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,941,000 after buying an additional 375,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tronox during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,268,000. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.