Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) Stock Rating Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Kronos Worldwide from $6.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Zacks Research cut Kronos Worldwide from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Kronos Worldwide in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $8.00 price objective on shares of Kronos Worldwide in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $8.50.

Kronos Worldwide Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of Kronos Worldwide stock opened at $7.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Kronos Worldwide has a 12-month low of $4.08 and a 12-month high of $9.17. The company has a market cap of $855.19 million, a P/E ratio of -22.51 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.90.

Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $541.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.40 million. Kronos Worldwide had a negative net margin of 1.85% and a negative return on equity of 5.02%. Research analysts anticipate that Kronos Worldwide will post 0.35 EPS for the current year.

Kronos Worldwide Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Kronos Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is currently -21.05%.

Institutional Trading of Kronos Worldwide

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Kronos Worldwide in the second quarter worth about $10,886,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Kronos Worldwide during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,030,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kronos Worldwide during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,336,000. Dayah Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Kronos Worldwide during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $878,000. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM bought a new position in shares of Kronos Worldwide during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $964,000. 15.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.