Brown Advisory Inc. Buys 265,184 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,617,287 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 265,184 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned 4.53% of Orion worth $41,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in OEC. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Orion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $171,000. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Orion in the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Orion during the 4th quarter worth about $211,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the 4th quarter worth about $259,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on OEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Orion from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carlos Quinones purchased 3,300 shares of Orion stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Orion Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:OEC opened at $12.01 on Tuesday. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $10.45 and a 52-week high of $26.05. 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 market capitalization of $676.39 million, a P/E ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.72.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.03 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. Orion's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.67%.

Orion 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.

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