Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Makes New $3.44 Million Investment in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 218,041 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $3,443,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.38% of Orion at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 17,109 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Orion by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 928,425 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $14,660,000 after buying an additional 229,156 shares during the last quarter. CastleKnight Management LP bought a new position in Orion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,565,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,617,287 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,327,000 after purchasing an additional 265,184 shares during the period. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its position in Orion by 526.4% during the 4th quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 313,188 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,945,000 after purchasing an additional 263,188 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on OEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Orion from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of Orion stock traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $11.35. The company had a trading volume of 945,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,163. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $638.66 million, a PE ratio of 15.13 and a beta of 1.20. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $9.59 and a one year high of $26.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.47.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $477.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $486.06 million. Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be paid a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Orion

In other Orion news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,705.14. This represents a 4.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company's stock.

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.