Harvey Partners LLC Raises Stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Harvey Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,696,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 146,500 shares during the quarter. Orion accounts for about 3.4% of Harvey Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Harvey Partners LLC owned approximately 2.94% of Orion worth $30,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of OEC. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 207.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Orion in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Orion in the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in Orion by 76.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,776 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Orion during the second quarter worth approximately $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OEC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Orion from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Orion from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of OEC traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.00. 546,622 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 449,376. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $16.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.54. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $14.94 and a 52-week high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 35.85 and a beta of 1.51.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.06). Orion had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The firm had revenue of $463.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $489.01 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.021 per share. This is a positive change from Orion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Orion's payout ratio is presently 15.09%.

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.