Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Sold by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,124 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,453 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Orion were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in OEC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 5.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,618,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,444,000 after purchasing an additional 89,319 shares during the period. Pantechnicon Advisors LLP increased its stake in Orion by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pantechnicon Advisors LLP now owns 800,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,024,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Orion by 22.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,485 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,483,000 after purchasing an additional 234,888 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC boosted its holdings in Orion by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 104,675 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,227,000 after purchasing an additional 16,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Orion by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 31,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 3,418 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OEC opened at $23.60 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.48. Orion S.A. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.11). Orion had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 21.25%. The business had revenue of $502.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.38 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be issued a $0.021 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on OEC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Orion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Orion from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.00.

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.