Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:KRO) Short Interest Up 17.5% in September

Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:KRO) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, an increase of 17.5% from the August 31st total of 902,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 261,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Currently, 4.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Kronos Worldwide by 136.6% during the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 360,677 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,526,000 after purchasing an additional 208,256 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Kronos Worldwide by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,937,071 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,860,000 after buying an additional 103,988 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kronos Worldwide in the 1st quarter valued at $960,000. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Kronos Worldwide in the second quarter valued at $783,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Kronos Worldwide by 25.9% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 187,944 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,359,000 after acquiring an additional 38,647 shares in the last quarter. 15.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Barclays boosted their price objective on Kronos Worldwide from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kronos Worldwide has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Kronos Worldwide Stock Performance

NYSE KRO traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $12.34. The company had a trading volume of 63,401 shares, compared to its average volume of 237,056. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $11.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.07. Kronos Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $6.16 and a fifty-two week high of $14.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.87 and a beta of 1.15.

Kronos Worldwide (NYSE:KRO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $500.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $504.19 million. Kronos Worldwide had a return on equity of 0.24% and a net margin of 0.11%. Equities analysts forecast that Kronos Worldwide will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kronos Worldwide Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Kronos Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is presently -86.96%.

About Kronos Worldwide

Kronos Worldwide, Inc produces and markets titanium dioxide pigments (TiO2) in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company produces TiO2 in two crystalline forms, rutile and anatase to impart whiteness, brightness, opacity, and durability for various products, including paints, coatings, plastics, paper, fibers, and ceramics, as well as for various specialty products, such as inks, foods, and cosmetics.