Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Strong Sell" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Orion has a consensus “Strong Sell” rating from five analysts: three rate it a sell and two a hold. The average 12-month price target is $6.08, compared with a recent share price of $5.82.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were mixed, with EPS of $0.14 missing the $0.16 consensus estimate, while revenue of $500.9 million exceeded expectations. Orion reported a negative net margin of 5.28%.
• Orion declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0207 per share, equal to an annualized $0.08 payout and a 1.4% yield; institutional investors own approximately 94.33% of the stock.

Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Strong Sell" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and two have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.0833.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Orion from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Orion in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Orion from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Orion from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OEC opened at $5.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.52. Orion has a 1-year low of $4.34 and a 1-year high of $9.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $328.72 million, a PE ratio of -3.36 and a beta of 0.99.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $500.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.43 million. Orion had a negative net margin of 5.28% and a negative return on equity of 0.31%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Orion will post 0.08 EPS for the current year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Orion's dividend payout ratio is -4.62%.

Institutional Trading of Orion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Orion during the second quarter worth $31,638,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Orion during the second quarter worth about $27,898,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Orion by 80.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 413,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,691,000 after buying an additional 184,377 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Orion by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 409,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,662,000 after buying an additional 47,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JB Capital Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,769,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Company Profile

Orion SA NYSE: OEC is a specialty chemicals company that develops, produces and markets carbon black. Its products are used as pigments, performance additives and conductive materials in applications including tires, rubber goods, coatings, printing inks, plastics, batteries and other industrial products.

The company supplies both specialty and high-performance carbon black products, which can provide coloration, ultraviolet protection, conductivity and reinforcement. Orion serves customers across a range of industries and operates internationally, with manufacturing and commercial activities spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific.

Orion traces its roots to the carbon black operations formerly associated with Evonik Industries and became an independent publicly traded company in 2011.

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