Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Tronox (NYSE:TROX) Stock Price

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

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

Tronox Price Performance

Shares of TROX opened at $9.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.93. Tronox has a fifty-two week low of $8.73 and a fifty-two week high of $20.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of -20.48 and a beta of 1.62.

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

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TROX. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tronox by 109.3% in the second quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,646,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,530,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381,975 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Tronox by 4.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 23,805,227 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,270,000 after buying an additional 1,073,674 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Tronox by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,537,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,497,000 after buying an additional 543,091 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Tronox during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,489,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in Tronox by 77.0% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 546,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,002,000 after acquiring an additional 237,916 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.36% of the company’s stock.

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.