Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Sells 117,218 Shares of Orion S.A. $OEC

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Orion S.A. by 34.4%, selling 117,218 shares, resulting in ownership of 223,503 shares valued at approximately $2.89 million.
• Several other institutional investors have increased their positions in Orion, with Deutsche Bank AG raising its stake by 48.9% during the last quarter.
• Orion reported a drop in quarterly revenue to $466.40 million, missing analysts' expectations, and the company’s stock has been rated underperform with a target price of $9.00 by Mizuho.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 34.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,503 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 117,218 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.40% of Orion worth $2,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Orion by 4.9% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 26,584 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Orion by 5.5% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 83,511 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,080,000 after acquiring an additional 4,334 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Orion during the first quarter worth $199,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Orion by 202.7% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 121,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,566,000 after acquiring an additional 81,079 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dean Capital Management raised its position in Orion by 50.8% during the first quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 45,749 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $592,000 after acquiring an additional 15,415 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on OEC shares. Mizuho reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Orion in a research report on Friday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised 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 and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $11.67.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of OEC stock traded down $0.18 on Friday, reaching $8.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,006,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 485,168. The stock has a market capitalization of $477.28 million, a PE ratio of 31.48 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $8.42 and a one year high of $19.48. The business's 50-day moving average is $10.26 and its 200 day moving average is $11.19.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $466.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $475.77 million. Orion had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 0.82%.The firm's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a interim dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a yield of 80.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.63%.

About Orion

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.