Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) Stock Breaks Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Kronos Worldwide Inc (NYSE:KRO)’s share price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $7.89 and traded as high as $8.27. Kronos Worldwide shares last traded at $8.1150, with a volume of 684,034 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KRO. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kronos Worldwide from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $8.00 price objective on shares of Kronos Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Kronos Worldwide in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Zacks Research cut Kronos Worldwide from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Kronos Worldwide from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $8.50.

Kronos Worldwide Stock Up 8.8%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.92. The company has a market capitalization of $934.04 million, a P/E ratio of -24.59 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $541.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.40 million. Kronos Worldwide had a negative net margin of 5.63% and a negative return on equity of 12.28%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kronos Worldwide Inc will post 0.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kronos Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Kronos Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is -60.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Kronos Worldwide during the 2nd quarter worth about $101,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Kronos Worldwide by 439.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 58,957 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 48,037 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Kronos Worldwide by 126.0% in the second quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 59,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $377,000 after buying an additional 33,173 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Kronos Worldwide in the second quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Kronos Worldwide in the second quarter valued at about $2,742,000. Institutional investors own 15.11% of the company’s stock.

About Kronos Worldwide

Kronos Worldwide, Inc (NYSE:KRO) is a global producer and marketer of titanium dioxide (TiO2) pigments. Its products are sold primarily under the KRONOS brand and are used to provide whiteness, opacity, brightness and protection in paints and coatings, plastics, paper and other manufactured products.

The company also produces certain specialty chemicals, including iron-based products and related inorganic chemicals. Kronos serves industrial customers through manufacturing and distribution operations in North America and Europe, with products marketed to customers in markets around the world.

Kronos Worldwide traces its roots to the early development of commercial titanium dioxide production and is part of the Valhi, Inc corporate family.