New York State Common Retirement Fund Acquires 193,126 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 414.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 239,693 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 193,126 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.42% of Orion worth $3,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OEC. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Orion in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd boosted its holdings in Orion by 1,578.7% in the third quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd now owns 4,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Orion by 1,112.9% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 8,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 7,913 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new position in Orion in the third quarter valued at about $190,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in Orion in the third quarter valued at about $190,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Orion Trading Down 5.8 %

OEC traded down $0.82 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $13.17. 729,735 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 507,338. 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 one year low of $13.06 and a one year high of $26.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $745.85 million, a P/E ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 1.50. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $14.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.29.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.10. Orion had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 2.35%. The firm had revenue of $434.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $437.03 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.