Bank of America Corp DE Purchases New Position in Orion S.A. $OEC

Key Points

• Bank of America acquired 313,790 Orion shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $2.08 million and representing 0.56% of the company. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 94.33% of OEC.
• Orion reported quarterly revenue of $500.9 million, exceeding estimates, but earnings per share of $0.14 fell short of the $0.16 consensus. The stock opened at $5.62, down 3.3%, and analysts maintain a “Strong Sell” consensus with an average $6.08 price target.
• Orion declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0207 per share, equivalent to an annualized $0.08 payout and a 1.5% yield.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 313,790 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $2,080,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned 0.56% of Orion as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of OEC. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Orion in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,638,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Orion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,898,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 80.3% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 413,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,691,000 after purchasing an additional 184,377 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 13.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 409,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,662,000 after purchasing an additional 47,902 shares during the period. Finally, JB Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Orion during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,214,350. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Orion Trading Down 3.3%

Shares of OEC opened at $5.62 on Thursday. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $4.34 and a 52-week high of $8.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $6.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.58. 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 cap of $317.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 0.99.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.02). The company 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%. Analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Orion's payout ratio is -4.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on OEC. UBS Group raised their target price on Orion from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Orion in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research raised Orion from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Orion from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Orion currently has an average rating of "Strong Sell" and an average price target of $6.08.

Orion 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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