Boston Partners Increases Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Boston Partners raised its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 25.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 912,652 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 184,139 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in Orion were worth $14,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in OEC. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd grew its holdings in Orion by 1,578.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Orion by 1,112.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the 3rd quarter valued at about $190,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the third quarter valued at about $280,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Orion news, VP Carlos Quinones purchased 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Orion Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of OEC stock opened at $13.84 on Friday. Orion S.A. has a 1-year low of $12.51 and a 1-year high of $26.05. The firm has a market cap of $783.81 million, a PE ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $14.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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

Orion Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.67%.

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.