Orion (NYSE:OEC) Rating Lowered to "Neutral" at UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group has downgraded Orion's stock rating from "buy" to "neutral," setting a price objective of $7.00, which suggests a potential upside of 13.82% based on the stock's last closing price.
• The current consensus rating for Orion stock is "Strong Sell," with analysts issuing conflicting ratings; two hold ratings and three sell ratings have been recorded.
• Orion recently reported a quarterly earnings miss with EPS of $0.32, falling short of the expected $0.36, and revenue of $466.40 million, which is a 2.2% decline from the same quarter last year.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report issued on Friday,Finviz reports. They currently have a $7.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company's stock. UBS Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.82% from the stock's previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Orion in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho set a $7.00 target price on shares of Orion in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $9.00 target price (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Orion from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" and a consensus price target of $7.67.

Orion Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:OEC opened at $6.15 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $8.99 and its 200-day moving average is $10.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.10. Orion has a 52 week low of $5.23 and a 52 week high of $19.48. The firm has a market cap of $345.32 million, a P/E ratio of 22.78 and a beta of 1.02.

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). Orion had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The firm had revenue of $466.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $475.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Orion will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Orion

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the first quarter valued at about $59,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 321.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,382 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 5,632 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 1,256.0% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 6,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 5,564 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 831.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the first quarter valued at about $137,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company's stock.

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.

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