Orion S.A. $OEC Shares Bought by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP has significantly increased its stake in Orion S.A. by 1,380.1%, now holding approximately 0.34% of the company's shares valued at $2.50 million.
• Orion reported Q2 earnings of $0.32 per share, missing analysts' expectations, with revenue of $466.40 million, a decline of 2.2% year-over-year.
• The company announced an interim dividend of $0.0207 per share, with a payout ratio of 29.63%, to be paid on October 8th.

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 1,380.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 193,365 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 180,301 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.34% of Orion worth $2,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of OEC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Orion by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 3,630 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 560,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,852,000 after purchasing an additional 38,793 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Orion by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 928,425 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $14,660,000 after acquiring an additional 229,156 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Orion by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 52,125 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $823,000 after acquiring an additional 17,109 shares during the period. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Orion in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,443,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Orion Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Orion stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.49. 154,255 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 593,263. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.59 and a 200-day moving average of $11.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $589.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83 and a beta of 1.05. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $9.03 and a 52-week high of $19.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $466.40 million during 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a interim dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders 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 (DPR) is currently 29.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on OEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $9.00 price objective (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Mizuho decreased 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Orion has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $12.00.

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.