Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 198,182 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 20.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,179,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 198,182 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 2.02% of Orion worth $21,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Orion by 207.0% during 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 bought a new stake in Orion in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Orion in the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Orion by 1,375.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Orion by 76.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,776 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Trading Down 0.6 %

OEC stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.94. 557,538 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 449,964. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.65 and a 200-day moving average of $19.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.04 and a beta of 1.48. Orion S.A. has a 1 year low of $14.94 and a 1 year high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $463.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $489.01 million. Orion had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 1.67%. Analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.021 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. 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 0.47%. Orion's payout ratio is currently 15.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Orion news, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.69 per share, for a total transaction of $176,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 958,776 shares in the company, valued at $16,960,747.44. This trade represents a 1.05 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.