Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Orion S.A. $OEC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 461.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 73,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60,519 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Orion worth $828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Orion by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,328,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,043,000 after acquiring an additional 16,612 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Orion by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,638,320 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,113,000 after buying an additional 21,033 shares during the last quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC raised its stake in Orion by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC now owns 1,946,739 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,171,000 after buying an additional 24,041 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Orion by 8.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,889,917 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $24,437,000 after buying an additional 142,734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Orion by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,714,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,165,000 after buying an additional 21,954 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Stock Down 1.2%

OEC opened at $7.25 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.86. Orion S.A. has a 52 week low of $7.23 and a 52 week high of $19.48. The company has a market capitalization of $406.81 million, a PE ratio of 26.83 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). Orion had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $466.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $475.77 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a interim dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $9.00 target price (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Mizuho restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $9.00 price objective on shares of Orion in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Orion to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Orion has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $11.67.

Orion 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.