StockNews.com Downgrades Orion (NYSE:OEC) to Hold

Orion (NYSE:OEC) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

Orion Price Performance

OEC stock opened at $17.48 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81 and a beta of 1.46. Orion has a twelve month low of $15.54 and a twelve month high of $28.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.27. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.14 million. Orion had a return on equity of 19.21% and a net margin of 4.09%. Orion’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Orion will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dan F. Smith bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were 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 $1,459,645.16. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Dan F. Smith bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were 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 $1,459,645.16. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.69 per share, for a total transaction of $176,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 958,776 shares in the company, valued at $16,960,747.44. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 47,500 shares of company stock valued at $845,225 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Orion during the 3rd quarter worth $69,000. Creative Planning purchased a new position in Orion in the third quarter valued at about $490,000. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Orion by 44.7% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 23,213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 7,173 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Orion by 88.6% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 6,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares during the period. 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.