William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys 602,080 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,461,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 602,080 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 6.00% of Orion worth $54,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Orion during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in Orion by 1,578.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in Orion by 1,112.9% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 8,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 7,913 shares in the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in Orion during the 3rd quarter worth about $190,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Orion by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OEC has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group dropped 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. dropped their target price 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 Stock Performance

OEC stock opened at $13.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $763.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.94. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $12.51 and a one year high of $26.05. 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 (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $434.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $437.03 million. Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Orion’s payout ratio is currently 10.67%.

Insider Activity at Orion

In related news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.07 per share, with a total value of $43,131.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.