Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 471,500 shares, a decline of 25.2% from the October 15th total of 630,500 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 528,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on OEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Orion from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Orion from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Insider Transactions at Orion

In other news, CEO Corning F. Painter bought 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.69 per share, with a total value of $176,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 958,776 shares in the company, valued at $16,960,747.44. This 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC raised its position in Orion by 207.0% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Orion during the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Orion during the 3rd quarter worth about $69,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd increased its position in Orion by 1,578.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Orion by 1,375.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Orion Price Performance

OEC stock traded up $0.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $17.71. The company had a trading volume of 759,686 shares, compared to its average volume of 448,183. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.13. Orion has a fifty-two week low of $14.94 and a fifty-two week high of $28.48. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.28 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $463.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $489.01 million. Orion had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 18.97%. Equities research analysts expect that Orion will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a boost from Orion's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Orion's payout ratio is 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.