Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 960,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 85,074 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Orion were worth $15,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of OEC. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Orion by 86.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 35,207 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the third quarter valued at $406,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the third quarter valued at $280,000. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the third quarter valued at $4,620,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Orion by 16.0% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 45,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 6,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Orion Stock Performance

OEC stock opened at $13.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $783.81 million, a P/E ratio of 18.45 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.88. Orion S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $12.51 and a fifty-two 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.10. Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The firm had revenue of $434.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $437.03 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be given a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Orion news, VP Carlos Quinones purchased 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,705.14. The trade was a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.