Orion (NYSE:OEC) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on OEC. Mizuho initiated coverage on Orion in a research report on Wednesday. They set a neutral rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Orion has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $27.80.

Orion Trading Up 1.2 %

OEC opened at $23.53 on Wednesday. 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 current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Orion has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $28.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.97.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released 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 company had revenue of $468.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.62 million. Orion had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 5.46%. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Orion will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OEC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 24.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 241,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,857,000 after purchasing an additional 47,440 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Orion by 49.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 418,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,677,000 after acquiring an additional 138,509 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Orion by 5.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 63,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 3,487 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd acquired a new stake in Orion during the first quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Orion by 20.6% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,292 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,615 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Orion Company Profile

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.