Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on TROX. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Tronox from $7.00 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Tronox from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $7.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Tronox in a research report on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Tronox from $6.50 to $4.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Tronox from $5.50 to $4.50 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.83.

Tronox Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TROX traded down $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $3.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,518,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,237,751. Tronox has a 12 month low of $2.86 and a 12 month high of $10.59. The company has a market capitalization of $553.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.00 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $4.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 2.55.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.51) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.38) by ($0.13). Tronox had a negative net margin of 17.96% and a negative return on equity of 24.34%. The business had revenue of $868.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $832.59 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.28) earnings per share. Tronox’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Tronox will post -1.41 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Tronox in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,355,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Tronox during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,102,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in Tronox by 21,419.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,065,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,713 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Tronox during the first quarter valued at approximately $850,000. Finally, Shah Capital Management raised its position in shares of Tronox by 13.4% in the third quarter. Shah Capital Management now owns 2,915,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,517,000 after purchasing an additional 344,993 shares during the period. 73.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Tronox Company Profile

Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) is a global producer of titanium dioxide pigment, a white pigment used to provide brightness, opacity and durability in products such as paints and coatings, plastics, paper and specialty materials. The company also produces titanium feedstocks, including titanium slag and synthetic rutile, as well as zircon and other mineral-sands products.

Tronox operates an integrated business that spans the mining and processing of mineral sands, the production of titanium feedstocks and the manufacture of titanium dioxide pigment.