AQR Capital Management LLC Makes New $783,000 Investment in Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:KRO)

AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:KRO) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 62,417 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $783,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in Kronos Worldwide by 9,905.7% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 8,717 shares during the last quarter. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kronos Worldwide during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kronos Worldwide during the second quarter valued at approximately $175,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in Kronos Worldwide in the second quarter worth approximately $184,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Kronos Worldwide in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.11% of the company’s stock.

Kronos Worldwide Stock Performance

Shares of KRO opened at $12.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.96 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 3.61, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.10. Kronos Worldwide, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.20 and a 12 month high of $14.50.

Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.21 by ($0.04). Kronos Worldwide had a net margin of 0.11% and a return on equity of 0.24%. The firm had revenue of $500.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $504.19 million. Research analysts forecast that Kronos Worldwide, Inc. will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kronos Worldwide Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. Kronos Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently -86.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Kronos Worldwide from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

About Kronos Worldwide

Kronos Worldwide, Inc produces and markets titanium dioxide pigments (TiO2) in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company produces TiO2 in two crystalline forms, rutile and anatase to impart whiteness, brightness, opacity, and durability for various products, including paints, coatings, plastics, paper, fibers, and ceramics, as well as for various specialty products, such as inks, foods, and cosmetics.