Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Bought by Northern Trust Corp

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 560,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,793 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.97% of Orion worth $8,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Orion by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 717,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,327,000 after acquiring an additional 110,911 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 72.1% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC now owns 69,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 29,100 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Orion by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,747,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,588,000 after acquiring an additional 188,131 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Orion by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 27,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 8,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Orion by 3.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 57,672 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of OEC opened at $11.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $638.66 million, a PE ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $14.43. Orion S.A. has a 52 week low of $9.59 and a 52 week high of $26.05.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.31). Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The company had revenue of $477.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $486.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on OEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Orion from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Insider Activity

In other Orion news, VP Carlos Quinones bought 3,300 shares of Orion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,705.14. The trade was a 4.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.