Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Stock Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 15.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,663 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Orion were worth $1,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of OEC. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Orion by 315.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 54,494 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after buying an additional 41,372 shares in the last quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Orion by 420.4% in the 4th quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC now owns 328,041 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,097,000 after purchasing an additional 265,000 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Orion by 94.9% in the 1st quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 270,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,370,000 after purchasing an additional 131,902 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Orion by 51.8% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 67,503 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,588,000 after purchasing an additional 23,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Orion by 4.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,807,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,523,000 after purchasing an additional 77,952 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OEC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.48 per share, for a total transaction of $349,600.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 948,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,584,604.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Orion news, Director Dan F. Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.53 per share, for a total transaction of $46,325.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 78,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,459,645.16. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 20,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.48 per share, for a total transaction of $349,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,584,604.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 47,500 shares of company stock valued at $845,225 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Orion Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE OEC opened at $16.65 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.12 and a 200 day moving average of $22.00. Orion S.A. has a 12-month low of $15.54 and a 12-month high of $28.48. The stock has a market cap of $970.83 million, a PE ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.47.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.14 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 EPS 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 dividend of $0.021 per share. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.