259,432 Shares in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Bought by Foundry Partners LLC

Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 259,432 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,620,000. Foundry Partners LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Orion as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 35.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,647,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,971,000 after purchasing an additional 954,398 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Orion during the 3rd quarter worth about $406,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Orion by 11.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Orion by 86.6% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 75,867 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after buying an additional 35,207 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on OEC. StockNews.com downgraded Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Orion from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Orion Price Performance

OEC opened at $18.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $19.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $14.94 and a 52-week high of $28.48. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.00 and a beta of 1.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $463.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $489.01 million. Orion had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 1.67%. On average, analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.021 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Orion’s payout ratio is presently 15.09%.

About Orion

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.