LSV Asset Management Acquires 54,800 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

LSV Asset Management lifted its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 140.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 54,800 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned 0.16% of Orion worth $2,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in OEC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Orion by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,618,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $34,444,000 after purchasing an additional 89,319 shares during the last quarter. Pantechnicon Advisors LLP increased its holdings in Orion by 15.9% during the third quarter. Pantechnicon Advisors LLP now owns 800,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $17,024,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Orion by 22.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,485 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $27,483,000 after acquiring an additional 234,888 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Group LLC lifted its stake in Orion by 18.3% in the third quarter. Renaissance Group LLC now owns 104,675 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,227,000 after acquiring an additional 16,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Orion in the fourth quarter valued at $318,000. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Orion Stock Performance

Orion stock traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.07. The company had a trading volume of 435,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 389,641. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $23.54 and a 200 day moving average of $23.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69 and a beta of 1.62. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $502.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.38 million. Orion had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 21.07%. Orion's revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.021 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 11th. Orion's dividend payout ratio is currently 5.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Orion from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Orion from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Orion has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $28.00.

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.