Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $13.44, but opened at $12.35. Tronox shares last traded at $12.75, with a volume of 234,420 shares.

The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.30). Tronox had a negative return on equity of 3.40% and a negative net margin of 2.14%. The firm had revenue of $804.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $790.63 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.08) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Monday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 26th. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on TROX. Barclays dropped their target price on Tronox from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Tronox from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group raised Tronox from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $19.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com raised Tronox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Tronox from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tronox currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $17.83.

Institutional Trading of Tronox

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Tronox by 2.7% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,757,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,536,000 after acquiring an additional 126,926 shares during the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tronox by 109.3% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,646,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381,975 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of Tronox by 2.9% in the second quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 2,426,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,072,000 after acquiring an additional 68,155 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Tronox by 0.8% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,311,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,581,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tronox by 3.7% in the first quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,280,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,212,000 after acquiring an additional 45,992 shares during the last quarter. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tronox Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 28.15 and a beta of 1.64.

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.