Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Purchases 35,207 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,867 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,207 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.13% of Orion worth $1,352,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of OEC. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Orion by 3.8% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,724,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $59,768,000 after buying an additional 99,613 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,197,000 after acquiring an additional 80,266 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,807,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $42,523,000 after acquiring an additional 77,952 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Orion by 18.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,347,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $29,556,000 after purchasing an additional 210,990 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 20.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,179,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $21,001,000 after purchasing an additional 198,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Orion Stock Up 0.2 %

Orion stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $18.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 240,683 shares, compared to its average volume of 615,285. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $14.94 and a 52-week high of $28.48. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 34.76 and a beta of 1.48. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $16.92 and its 200 day moving average is $19.62.

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

Orion Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.021 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Orion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Orion's dividend payout ratio is 15.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.