T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 944,232 Shares of Orion S.A. $OEC

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. has significantly reduced its stake in Orion S.A. by 74.8%, now holding 318,376 shares valued at approximately $4.12 million.
• Various hedge funds have recently adjusted their positions in Orion, with Brown Advisory Inc. increasing its stake by 11.3% and ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC boosting its position by 526.4% in the fourth quarter.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Orion's stock, with price targets set as low as $9.00 by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and upgrades to "strong sell" from Zacks Research, reflecting uncertainty in the company's performance.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 74.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 318,376 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 944,232 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 0.57% of Orion worth $4,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

OEC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $9.00 price target (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $12.00.

Orion Stock Performance

Orion stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $10.47. 559,916 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,067. The stock has a market capitalization of $588.06 million, a PE ratio of 38.79 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Orion S.A. has a 12-month low of $9.03 and a 12-month high of $19.48. The business's 50-day moving average is $10.58 and its 200-day moving average is $11.73.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $466.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $475.77 million. Orion had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The firm's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

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