Orion (NYSE:OEC) Reaches New 52-Week Low - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) reached a new 52-week low of $9.47, following a decline in stock price and trading volume.
• Several analysts have lowered their target price for Orion, with UBS reducing it from $18.00 to $17.00, Mizuho from $12.00 to $10.00, and JPMorgan from $18.00 to $12.00, indicating a shift in market sentiment.
• The company reported an earnings miss of $0.22 EPS for the latest quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations by $0.31, alongside a 5% year-over-year revenue decline.

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $9.53 and last traded at $9.47, with a volume of 343 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OEC shares. 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 note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Orion from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Orion from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th.

Orion Trading Up 3.3%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $10.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $546.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 1.10.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.31). Orion had a return on equity of 17.66% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company had revenue of $477.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $486.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a yield of 80.0%. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Orion

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its position in Orion by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 367,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,858,000 after purchasing an additional 32,143 shares during the period. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Orion during the second quarter valued at approximately $148,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in Orion by 698.1% in the 2nd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 132,424 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,389,000 after buying an additional 115,831 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Orion by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,634 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 4,742 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Orion during the 2nd quarter worth $175,000. Institutional investors own 94.33% 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.