Dean Investment Associates LLC Cuts Stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Dean Investment Associates LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 52.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,961 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 49,731 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC owned about 0.08% of Orion worth $710,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,461,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after buying an additional 602,080 shares during the last quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Orion by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC now owns 1,922,698 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,359,000 after acquiring an additional 320,157 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Orion by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,747,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,588,000 after acquiring an additional 188,131 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Orion by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,692,299 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,721,000 after purchasing an additional 46,939 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Orion by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,301,158 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $23,178,000 after purchasing an additional 5,378 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Orion Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE OEC opened at $11.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.24. Orion S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $10.50 and a fifty-two week high of $26.05. The stock has a market cap of $673.79 million, a P/E ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.17.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.10. Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The business had revenue of $434.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $437.03 million. On average, analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Orion’s payout ratio is currently 10.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Carlos Quinones bought 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.07 per share, with a total value of $43,131.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,705.14. The trade was a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OEC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Orion 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.