GSA Capital Partners LLP Has $2.83 Million Holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Orion S.A. by 480.2%, acquiring an additional 181,245 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total to 218,989 shares.
• Orion reported an EPS of $0.22 for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations of $0.53, while quarterly revenue fell 5.0% year-over-year.
• The company announced an interim dividend of $0.0207 per share with a yield of 0.8%, set to be paid on October 8th to shareholders of record on July 7th.

GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 480.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 218,989 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 181,245 shares during the period. Orion accounts for about 0.3% of GSA Capital Partners LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. GSA Capital Partners LLP owned approximately 0.39% of Orion worth $2,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OEC. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Orion by 1,256.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Orion by 831.7% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $159,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Orion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP bought a new position in shares of Orion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OEC. Mizuho cut their price objective on Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Orion from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Orion Stock Performance

OEC stock traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $9.27. 417,441 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 587,913. Orion S.A. has a 12 month low of $9.15 and a 12 month high of $20.07. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $10.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $521.45 million, a PE ratio of 20.20 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.31). Orion had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company had revenue of $477.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $486.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

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 of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.39%.

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.