Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 254,340 Shares of Orion S.A. $OEC

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Orion S.A. by 55.8%, now holding 201,182 shares worth approximately $2.6 million.
• The company recently announced an interim dividend of $0.0207, yielding 80.0%, with the payment date set for October 8th.
• Orion's last earnings report revealed $0.32 earnings per share, missing analysts' expectations, and a quarterly revenue of $466.4 million, which was below predictions.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 55.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,182 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 254,340 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.36% of Orion worth $2,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion in the first quarter valued at $377,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion by 30.3% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 3,046 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 694,579 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,967,000 after buying an additional 117,022 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in shares of Orion by 5.5% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 83,511 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,080,000 after buying an additional 4,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Orion in the fourth quarter valued at $382,000. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OEC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Mizuho reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $9.00 price objective on shares of Orion in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $11.67.

Orion Price Performance

NYSE OEC traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $9.16. 74,301 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 590,957. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $514.28 million, a PE ratio of 33.96 and a beta of 1.05. Orion S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $9.03 and a fifty-two week high of $19.48. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $10.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.34.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). The business 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%.The firm's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a interim dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Orion's payout ratio is 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.