CenterBook Partners LP Reduces Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners LP has significantly reduced its stake in Orion S.A. by 43.1%, selling 144,686 shares and holding 191,072 shares worth approximately $2,471,000 as of the last SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have adjusted their positions in Orion, with Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increasing their stake by 30.3% and Nuveen Asset Management LLC increasing by 20.3% in the past quarters.
• Analysts have been downgrading Orion, with JPMorgan reducing their rating from "overweight" to "neutral" and lowering the target price from $18.00 to $12.00.

CenterBook Partners LP decreased its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 43.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 191,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 144,686 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP owned approximately 0.34% of Orion worth $2,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion in the first quarter valued at about $377,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Orion by 30.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 3,046 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Orion by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 694,579 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $10,967,000 after buying an additional 117,022 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Orion by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 83,511 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,080,000 after buying an additional 4,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in Orion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $382,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Orion from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $12.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Mizuho cut their price target on Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

Orion Price Performance

NYSE:OEC opened at $9.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.15. Orion S.A. has a 1-year low of $9.03 and a 1-year high of $19.48. The firm has a market cap of $511.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 1.10.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). Orion had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 17.66%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a interim dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Orion's payout ratio is currently 17.39%.

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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