10,653 Shares in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Purchased by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,653 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Orion by 3.8% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,724,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $59,768,000 after buying an additional 99,613 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Orion by 4.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,197,000 after buying an additional 80,266 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Orion by 4.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,807,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,523,000 after acquiring an additional 77,952 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Orion by 18.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,347,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,556,000 after acquiring an additional 210,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Orion by 20.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,179,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,001,000 after buying an additional 198,182 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OEC opened at $17.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $16.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28 and a beta of 1.48. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $14.94 and a one year high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $463.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $489.01 million. Orion had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 18.97%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.021 per share. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.09%.

Insider Activity at Orion

In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 10,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.69 per share, for a total transaction of $176,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 958,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,960,747.44. The trade was a 1.05 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on OEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Orion from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

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.