Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Purchases 126,846 Shares of Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 831,254 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 126,846 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.53% of Tronox worth $12,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tronox in the third quarter worth about $459,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Tronox by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,321,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,223,000 after buying an additional 23,686 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Tronox by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 692,787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,135,000 after buying an additional 35,342 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Tronox by 20.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 493,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,221,000 after acquiring an additional 84,830 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tronox by 54.6% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,537,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,497,000 after acquiring an additional 543,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TROX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on Tronox from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of Tronox from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Tronox from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Tronox from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Tronox from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

Tronox Stock Performance

Tronox stock opened at $12.18 on Wednesday. Tronox Holdings plc has a fifty-two week low of $10.69 and a fifty-two week high of $20.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.02 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported ($0.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $804.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $790.63 million. Tronox had a negative return on equity of 3.91% and a negative net margin of 2.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Tronox Holdings plc will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Tronox’s payout ratio is currently -104.16%.

Tronox 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.