Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on TROX. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Tronox from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Tronox from $19.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Tronox from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Tronox in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tronox has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.00.

Tronox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TROX opened at $15.67 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.14. Tronox has a 1 year low of $10.08 and a 1 year high of $20.70. The company has a market capitalization of $2.47 billion, a PE ratio of -7.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 3.12.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tronox

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Tronox by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,234,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,483,000 after purchasing an additional 90,500 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tronox by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,951,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,627,000 after purchasing an additional 127,718 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tronox by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,185,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,583,000 after purchasing an additional 876,192 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Tronox in the fourth quarter valued at about $338,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tronox by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,234,263 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,477,000 after purchasing an additional 281,110 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

About Tronox

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.