Orion (NYSE:OEC) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Orion (NYSE:OEC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on OEC. UBS Group decreased their price target on Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho started coverage on Orion in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a neutral rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Orion currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $27.80.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OEC opened at $23.50 on Thursday. Orion has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $28.48. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.30 and a 200-day moving average of $23.23.

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

Orion Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Orion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Orion by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Orion by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Orion by 101.1% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Orion by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 16,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Orion by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.