Vanguard Group Inc. Has $29.56 Million Stock Holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,871,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 101,194 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 3.24% of Orion worth $29,555,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Orion by 148.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 151,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,693,000 after acquiring an additional 90,292 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Orion during the third quarter worth $415,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Orion in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Orion by 320.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,512 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 72,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Orion by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,301,158 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $23,178,000 after buying an additional 5,378 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OEC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Orion Trading Up 0.4 %

OEC opened at $11.74 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $665.12 million, a P/E ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Orion S.A. has a 12 month low of $10.50 and a 12 month high of $26.05.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.10. Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The business had revenue of $434.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $437.03 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Orion’s payout ratio is 10.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Orion news, VP Carlos Quinones purchased 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.07 per share, with a total value of $43,131.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,705.14. The trade was a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.