Orion (NYSE:OEC) Stock Price Up 3.2% – What’s Next?

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)’s share price rose 3.2% on Friday . The company traded as high as $17.90 and last traded at $17.85. Approximately 48,500 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 444,980 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented 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 shares of Orion from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Orion Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $16.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42 and a beta of 1.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $463.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $489.01 million. Orion had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 18.97%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.021 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Orion

In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter bought 10,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.69 per share, with a total value of $176,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 958,776 shares in the company, valued at $16,960,747.44. This represents a 1.05 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Orion

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OEC. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Orion by 207.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Orion in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Orion during the third quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its position in shares of Orion by 1,578.7% during the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

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.