Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Position Reduced by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,871,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 101,194 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 3.24% of Orion worth $29,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the third quarter valued at $27,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Orion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $171,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Orion in the third quarter valued at approximately $415,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Orion by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 3,646 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Orion by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Orion

In other news, VP Carlos Quinones bought 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 79,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % 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 corporate insiders.

Orion Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of OEC stock traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 445,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 506,053. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $673.79 million, a PE ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.25. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $13.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.17. Orion S.A. has a 12-month low of $10.50 and a 12-month high of $26.05.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.10. Orion had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 2.35%. The company had revenue of $434.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $437.03 million. On average, research analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were issued a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 13th. Orion's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on OEC shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

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.