Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $9.09 and last traded at $8.7660, with a volume of 953556 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on TROX shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Tronox from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tronox in a report on Friday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Tronox in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Tronox from $5.50 to $7.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Tronox from $5.25 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.40.

Tronox Trading Up 0.9%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $7.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.04 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 0.67.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.43) by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $730.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.22 million. Tronox had a negative net margin of 16.22% and a negative return on equity of 14.75%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio is -6.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jonathan Flood sold 8,008 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.58, for a total transaction of $52,692.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 92,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,025.38. The trade was a 7.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jeffrey N. Neuman sold 22,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.59, for a total transaction of $151,339.35. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 248,831 shares in the company, valued at $1,639,796.29. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 172,711 shares of company stock worth $1,145,137 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Tronox by 203.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,534,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,270,000 after purchasing an additional 4,378,023 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tronox by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,637,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,508,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205,249 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in shares of Tronox by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 5,478,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,845,000 after purchasing an additional 773,900 shares during the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. grew its stake in shares of Tronox by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 4,347,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,398,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lightrock Netherlands B.V. grew its stake in shares of Tronox by 66.8% during the fourth quarter. Lightrock Netherlands B.V. now owns 3,051,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

About Tronox

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.