Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio trimmed its position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,100 shares during the period. Strs Ohio owned approximately 0.05% of Orion worth $831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Orion by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,485 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,483,000 after purchasing an additional 234,888 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Orion by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,284,823 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $69,901,000 after acquiring an additional 171,834 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Orion by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 757,944 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,129,000 after acquiring an additional 161,691 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in Orion by 52.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 403,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,597,000 after acquiring an additional 138,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pantechnicon Advisors LLP grew its holdings in Orion by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pantechnicon Advisors LLP now owns 800,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,024,000 after acquiring an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Orion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Mizuho began coverage on shares of Orion in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.80.

Orion Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE OEC opened at $23.52 on Thursday. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $28.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.34. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.64.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a $0.021 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.62%.

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.