Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 18.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 717,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 110,911 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.24% of Orion worth $11,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the 4th quarter worth $171,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the 3rd quarter worth $415,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 3,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Orion

In other Orion news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Orion Price Performance

OEC stock traded up $0.17 on Friday, reaching $11.89. The company had a trading volume of 445,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 507,126. The company's fifty day moving average is $13.15 and its 200 day moving average is $15.13. The company has a market cap of $673.79 million, a P/E ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.24. Orion S.A. has a 1 year low of $10.50 and a 1 year high of $26.05.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $434.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.03 million. Orion had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 2.35%. On average, research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.67%.

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.