Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Purchases 69,518 Shares of Orion S.A. $OEC

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Orion S.A. by 7.2%, acquiring an additional 69,518 shares, bringing its total ownership to over 1 million shares valued at approximately $13.3 million.
• Orion S.A. reported a quarterly EPS of $0.32, missing analysts' expectations, with revenues declining 2.2% year-over-year to $466.4 million.
• The company announced an interim dividend of $0.0207 per share, set to be paid on October 8th, which indicates a dividend yield of 80.0% based on its payout ratio of 29.63%.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,029,867 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 69,518 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.83% of Orion worth $13,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Orion by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,328,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $43,043,000 after purchasing an additional 16,612 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Orion by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,638,320 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,113,000 after purchasing an additional 21,033 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Orion by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,186,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,529,000 after purchasing an additional 233,342 shares during the period. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Orion by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC now owns 1,946,739 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $25,171,000 after purchasing an additional 24,041 shares during the period. Finally, Divisar Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Orion by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Divisar Capital Management LLC now owns 1,223,324 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $19,316,000 after purchasing an additional 80,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on OEC. UBS Group dropped their price target on Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $12.00.

Orion Stock Performance

Orion stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.54. 421,784 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 676,726. Orion S.A. has a 52 week low of $9.03 and a 52 week high of $19.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $591.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.05 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $10.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.68.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $466.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $475.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a interim dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders 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 payout ratio is currently 29.63%.

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.