Morgan Stanley Cuts Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Price Target to $12.00

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) had its price objective decreased by Morgan Stanley from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group upgraded Tronox from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays cut their target price on Tronox from $18.00 to $16.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Tronox from $21.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Tronox from $15.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Tronox currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.50.

Tronox Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of TROX opened at $9.83 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.93. Tronox has a 1 year low of $8.73 and a 1 year high of $20.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.48 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Tronox Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -104.17%.

Institutional Trading of Tronox

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Tronox by 109.3% in the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,646,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,530,000 after buying an additional 1,381,975 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Tronox by 4.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,805,227 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,674 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $22,497,000 after acquiring an additional 543,091 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tronox in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,489,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tronox by 77.0% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 546,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,002,000 after purchasing an additional 237,916 shares during the period. 73.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tronox Company 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.