Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Makes New $1.43 Million Investment in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 65,116 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,429,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Orion by 207.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,412 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the 2nd quarter valued at $54,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Orion by 1,375.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Orion in the 2nd quarter worth $140,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Orion in the 1st quarter worth $221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on OEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $349,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,584,604.48. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Dan F. Smith acquired 2,500 shares of Orion stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.53 per share, for a total transaction of $46,325.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 78,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,645.16. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 20,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $349,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,584,604.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 47,500 shares of company stock valued at $845,225. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of OEC opened at $17.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.74. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $15.54 and a one year high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.47.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.18). Orion had a return on equity of 19.21% and a net margin of 4.09%. The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.14 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.021 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Orion’s payout ratio is currently 5.41%.

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.