Pzena Investment Management LLC Has $24.20 Million Position in Orion S.A. $OEC

Pzena Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,582,596 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 112,229 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC owned about 0.08% of Orion worth $24,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Orion by 321.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,382 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 5,632 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Orion in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Orion in the first quarter worth approximately $137,000. Glenmede Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Orion in the third quarter worth approximately $89,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Orion by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 1,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on OEC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Orion from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho increased their price target on Orion from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Orion from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Orion from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $5.92.

Orion Stock Up 4.4%

Shares of OEC stock opened at $6.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $379.84 million, a P/E ratio of -4.21 and a beta of 0.98. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $4.34 and a one year high of $12.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $459.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $434.31 million. Orion had a positive return on equity of 2.23% and a negative net margin of 4.98%. Analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -5.00%.

Orion Profile

Orion Engineered Carbons SA, operating as Orion (NYSE: OEC), is a global producer of carbon black, a critical performance additive used to enhance the strength, durability and conductivity of various materials. The company’s products chiefly serve the tire and rubber industry, where carbon black imparts wear resistance and longevity, as well as the plastics, coatings, inks and battery components markets, where specialty grades deliver tailored conductivity and color properties.

Orion’s product portfolio is organized into two core segments: Rubber and Specialty and Chemical Specialties.