Quarry LP Acquires 2,076 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 76.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,776 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Quarry LP’s holdings in Orion were worth $105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Grizzlyrock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $23,586,000. Schroder Investment Management Group acquired a new position in Orion during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,174,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Orion by 13.1% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $61,729,000 after purchasing an additional 304,372 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 18.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,347,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,556,000 after buying an additional 210,990 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in Orion in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,992,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Orion news, CFO Jeffrey Glajch acquired 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.16 per share, for a total transaction of $272,400.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 101,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,849,686.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Dan F. Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.53 per share, with a total value of $46,325.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 78,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,645.16. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Glajch bought 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.16 per share, with a total value of $272,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 101,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,849,686.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 47,500 shares of company stock worth $845,225 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on OEC. StockNews.com cut shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of Orion stock opened at $17.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.74. Orion S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $15.54 and a fifty-two week high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.47.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $491.14 million. Orion had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.021 dividend. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.41%.

Orion Company 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.