Swiss National Bank Sells 15,600 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 131,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 15,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.22% of Orion worth $3,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Orion in the 1st quarter valued at about $21,807,000. EVR Research LP bought a new stake in shares of Orion in the 1st quarter valued at about $9,104,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,067,704 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,581,000 after purchasing an additional 392,781 shares during the period. SIR Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Orion in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,473,000. Finally, Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in Orion in the 1st quarter valued at about $6,937,000. 89.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OEC has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Orion in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Orion from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their target price on shares of Orion from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Orion from $41.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.50.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of Orion stock opened at $23.48 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.70 and a 200-day moving average of $23.56. Orion S.A. has a 1-year low of $12.87 and a 1-year high of $26.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.57.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.06). Orion had a return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 5.92%. The firm had revenue of $458.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $501.83 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 5th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.021 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Orion’s payout ratio is 4.15%.

Insider Activity at Orion

In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.59 per share, with a total value of $323,850.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 771,708 shares in the company, valued at $16,661,175.72. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Orion

Orion SA, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells 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 polymers, coatings, and battery electrodes.