Orion (NYSE:OEC) Stock Price Passes Below 50 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) shares crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $11.09 and traded as low as $10.93. Orion shares last traded at $11.22, with a volume of 350,211 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on OEC. UBS Group dropped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Orion from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th.

Orion Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $11.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.83. The stock has a market cap of $633.04 million, a PE ratio of 24.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.14.

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

Orion Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a interim dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 7th. This represents a yield of 0.8%. Orion's payout ratio is 17.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Orion

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Orion by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,461,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $54,664,000 after buying an additional 602,080 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Orion by 0.5% in the first quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,328,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $43,043,000 after purchasing an additional 16,612 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Orion by 0.8% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,638,320 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $34,113,000 after purchasing an additional 21,033 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Orion by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,186,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,529,000 after purchasing an additional 233,342 shares during the period. Finally, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Orion by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC now owns 1,946,739 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $25,171,000 after purchasing an additional 24,041 shares during the period. 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.