Atom Investors LP Boosts Stake in Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX)

Atom Investors LP raised its stake in shares of Tronox Holdings plc (NYSE:TROX) by 72.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,790 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,034 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP owned approximately 0.08% of Tronox worth $1,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TROX. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in Tronox by 34.6% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Tronox during the third quarter valued at about $212,000. PDT Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Tronox by 42.6% during the third quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 93,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,370,000 after buying an additional 27,949 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of Tronox by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 27,548 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 2,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Tronox by 31.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 86,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,266,000 after buying an additional 20,932 shares during the last quarter. 73.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tronox Stock Performance

Shares of TROX opened at $12.07 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $12.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.85. Tronox Holdings plc has a one year low of $10.69 and a one year high of $20.70.

Tronox (NYSE:TROX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported ($0.13) EPS 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 firm had revenue of $804.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $790.63 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.08) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Tronox Holdings plc will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Tronox Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Tronox’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -104.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.