Orion (NYSE:OEC) Now Covered by Analysts at Mizuho

Mizuho started coverage on shares of Orion (NYSE:OEC) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $25.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

OEC has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Orion from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $27.80.

Orion Stock Performance

NYSE OEC opened at $23.53 on Wednesday. Orion has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.97.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $468.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.62 million. Orion had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 24.45%. Orion’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Orion will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.021 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 12th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Orion

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Orion during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 101.1% in the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 121.5% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 1,770.6% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,505 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Orion

Orion SA, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of carbon black products. It operates in two segments, Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The company offers post-treated specialty carbon black grades for coatings and printing applications; high purity carbon black grades for the fiber industry; and conductive carbon black grades for batteries, polymers, and coatings.