Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 132,285 Shares of Orion S.A. $OEC

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Orion S.A. by 7.1%, selling 132,285 shares, and now owns approximately 3.09% of the company valued at $22.49 million.
• Orion missed its quarterly earnings estimate with $0.32 EPS, falling short of the consensus of $0.36, and reported a revenue decline of 2.2% compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.0207 per share, set to be paid on October 8th, representing a yield of 80.0% at the time of announcement.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,739,455 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 132,285 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 3.09% of Orion worth $22,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion by 1,256.0% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 5,564 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Orion by 831.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Orion in the 4th quarter worth about $159,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Orion in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its stake in Orion by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 16,593 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 5,061 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on OEC shares. Mizuho cut their target price on Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's 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 down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $10.40. The stock had a trading volume of 128,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,073. The firm has a market capitalization of $583.96 million, a PE ratio of 38.27 and a beta of 1.05. Orion S.A. has a 12 month low of $9.03 and a 12 month 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 firm's 50-day moving average price is $10.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.61.

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

Orion Dividend Announcement

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