Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Buys Shares of 310,805 Orion S.A. $OEC

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC has invested approximately $4 million in Orion S.A., acquiring 310,805 shares during the first quarter, representing 0.55% ownership in the company.
• Recent analyst ratings on Orion S.A. have been mixed, with UBS Group lowering their price target to $17.00 and JPMorgan Chase reducing theirs to $9.00, resulting in an average consensus target price of $12.00.
• Orion S.A. has reported a disappointing quarterly performance with earnings per share of $0.32, missing expectations, and announced an interim dividend of $0.0207 per share, reflecting a yield of 80.0%.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 310,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $4,019,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.55% of Orion at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in OEC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Orion by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 450,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,818,000 after purchasing an additional 3,450 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Orion by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,630 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Orion by 23.2% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 20,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $265,000 after purchasing an additional 3,863 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on OEC. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $9.00 target price (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Orion has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $12.00.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of OEC stock traded down $0.34 on Wednesday, reaching $10.16. The company had a trading volume of 329,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 516,520. The business's 50-day moving average is $10.56 and its 200 day moving average is $11.44. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $9.03 and a one year high of $19.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $570.20 million, a PE ratio of 37.61 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Orion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. Orion's dividend payout ratio is 29.63%.

Orion Company 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.