CenterBook Partners LP Sells 144,686 Shares of 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 trimmed its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 43.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Orion by 1,256.0% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Orion by 831.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 5,947 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Orion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $159,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Orion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in Orion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Orion Trading Down 7.7%

OEC traded down $0.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $9.72. The stock had a trading volume of 356,818 shares, compared to its average volume of 594,440. Orion S.A. has a 1-year low of $9.03 and a 1-year high of $19.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $10.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $545.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20 and a beta of 1.10.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). Orion had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 0.82%. The company had revenue of $466.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $475.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a interim dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OEC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th.

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.