Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Tronox Holdings PLC (NYSE:TROX) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $7.75, but opened at $8.41. Tronox shares last traded at $7.4150, with a volume of 3,016,336 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Tronox in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Tronox from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Tronox from $3.80 to $5.25 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Tronox in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Tronox from $5.50 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.08.

Tronox Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50-day moving average of $5.77 and a 200-day moving average of $4.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 1.18.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.60) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $730.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $730.22 million. Tronox had a negative net margin of 11.39% and a negative return on equity of 8.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Tronox Holdings PLC will post 0.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.76%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tronox

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TROX. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of Tronox by 192.2% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,560,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797,002 shares during the last quarter. Shah Capital Management raised its stake in Tronox by 650.0% during the fourth quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,510,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600,000 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. increased its position in Tronox by 123.0% in 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 buying an additional 2,398,038 shares during the period. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in Tronox in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,552,000. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.