Insider Buying: Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) VP Acquires 3,300 Shares of Stock

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) VP Carlos Quinones purchased 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,705.14. The trade was a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Orion Stock Performance

NYSE:OEC opened at $12.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $719.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.05. Orion S.A. has a 52 week low of $12.47 and a 52 week high of $26.05. 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 (NYSE:OEC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $434.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.03 million. Orion had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 2.35%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Orion’s payout ratio is 10.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on OEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 35.4% during 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 during the period. EVR Research LP acquired a new position in Orion during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,632,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Orion by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,461,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,664,000 after buying an additional 602,080 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Orion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,974,000. Finally, Cooper Creek Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in Orion during the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,464,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.