Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Orion (NYSE:OEC)

Key Points

• Jefferies initiated coverage of Orion with a “strong buy” rating. Analyst sentiment overall is more cautious: MarketBeat’s consensus is “Reduce,” with an average price target of $5.58.
• Orion shares fell 5.2% on Friday to $3.96, near their 12-month low of $3.91.
• In its latest quarter, Orion reported EPS of $0.03, below the $0.11 consensus estimate, while revenue of $472.8 million exceeded expectations.

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) in a report released on Friday, Zacks reports. The brokerage set a "strong-buy" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Orion from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Orion in a report on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group cut their target price on Orion from $8.00 to $6.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Orion from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $5.58.

Orion Stock Down 5.2%

OEC traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $3.96. The stock had a trading volume of 900,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,089. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $223.54 million, a PE ratio of -6.82 and a beta of 1.05. Orion has a twelve month low of $3.91 and a twelve month high of $8.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.34.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.08). Orion had a negative net margin of 5.28% and a negative return on equity of 0.31%. The business had revenue of $472.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $445.99 million. On average, research analysts predict that Orion will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Orion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Orion by 70.6% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,235 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,753 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 26.4% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 9,925 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares during the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 48.0% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 16,694 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 5,418 shares during the last quarter. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Orion during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Orion Company Profile

Orion SA, formerly known as Orion Engineered Carbons SA, is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and sells carbon-based products. Its portfolio includes specialty carbon black, high-performance carbon black, conductive additives and other carbon materials used in a range of industrial and consumer applications.

The company's products help provide color, conductivity, reinforcement, ultraviolet protection and other performance characteristics in products such as coatings, paints, printing inks, plastics, adhesives, sealants, batteries, tires and other rubber goods.

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