Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.02 Per Share

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of 0.021 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02.

Orion has decreased its dividend by an average of 25.5% per year over the last three years. Orion has a dividend payout ratio of 3.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Orion to earn $2.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 3.6%.

Orion Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Orion stock opened at $16.65 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $970.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.47. Orion has a 12-month low of $15.54 and a 12-month high of $28.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.14 million. Orion had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 19.21%. Orion’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Orion will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $349,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,584,604.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.69 per share, for a total transaction of $176,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 958,776 shares in the company, valued at $16,960,747.44. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $349,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 948,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,584,604.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 47,500 shares of company stock valued at $845,225. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.