Strs Ohio Sells 4,100 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Strs Ohio lowered its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,100 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Orion were worth $831,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of OEC. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Orion by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 5,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Orion by 91.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 5,428 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on OEC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Orion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Orion in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Orion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $27.80.

Orion Stock Performance

NYSE OEC opened at $23.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.34. Orion S.A. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $468.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $421.62 million. Orion had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 5.46%. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.021 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is 4.62%.

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.