New York State Common Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Key Points

• The New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Orion S.A. by 92.5%, leaving it with 17,867 shares valued at approximately $231,000.
• Orion S.A. reported $0.22 earnings per share for its last quarter, missing estimates by $0.31 and reflecting a 5% year-over-year decline in revenue.
• The company recently declared an interim dividend of $0.0207 per share, which will yield about 0.8% for shareholders.

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 92.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,867 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 221,826 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund's holdings in Orion were worth $231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of OEC. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Orion by 1,256.0% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Orion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $159,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Orion during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Orion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Orion in the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Price Performance

OEC opened at $11.36 on Friday. Orion S.A. has a 1 year low of $9.59 and a 1 year high of $24.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.38. The firm has a market cap of $638.95 million, a PE ratio of 24.68 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.22 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $477.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $486.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Orion's revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a interim dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. Orion's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.

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