Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Tronox from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Tronox in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Tronox from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Tronox from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Tronox from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Tronox Price Performance

TROX traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $16.53. The stock had a trading volume of 859,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,065. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.50 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Tronox has a 1-year low of $10.08 and a 1-year high of $20.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.31.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.06). Tronox had a negative net margin of 11.93% and a negative return on equity of 2.74%. The company had revenue of $774.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $753.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. Tronox’s quarterly revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Tronox will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tronox

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TROX. BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in Tronox in the second quarter worth $1,273,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Tronox by 160.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,018,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,664,000 after acquiring an additional 626,744 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tronox by 3.7% during 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Tronox by 4.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 89,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,548,000 after acquiring an additional 4,204 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Tronox during the first quarter worth $19,152,000. 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.