Quantbot Technologies LP Raises Holdings in Orion S.A. $OEC

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP significantly increased its holdings in Orion S.A. by 940.9%, owning 59,256 shares worth $766,000 after acquiring an additional 53,563 shares in the first quarter.
• A series of large investors, including Brown Advisory Inc. and ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC, also boosted their stakes in Orion, indicating increased institutional interest in the company.
• Orion recently reported a 0.32 EPS for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations, and declared an interim dividend with a yield of 80.0% to be paid in October.

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 940.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 53,563 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP owned approximately 0.11% of Orion worth $766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Orion by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 30.3% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 3,046 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Orion by 0.8% during the first quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 450,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,818,000 after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Orion by 19.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,630 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on OEC shares. Mizuho cut their price objective on Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research report on Monday, August 11th. 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Orion presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $12.00.

Orion Stock Up 0.8%

Orion stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $10.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 421,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 676,726. Orion S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $9.03 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market cap of $591.99 million, a P/E ratio of 39.05 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.66.

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

Orion Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a interim dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.