Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Receives Consensus Rating of "Strong Sell" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Orion S.A. has received a consensus rating of "Strong Sell" from five brokerages, with four analysts recommending a sell and only one recommending a buy.
• The company's stock has a current price target among analysts averaging $11.00, while it was last traded at $7.20, reflecting significant downside potential.
• Orion reported quarterly earnings of $0.32 EPS, missing expectations, and has seen a 2.2% year-over-year decline in revenue.

Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Strong Sell" from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.00.

Several research firms have commented on OEC. Zacks Research upgraded Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Orion in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Mizuho set a $7.00 price objective on Orion in a research note on Friday.

Orion Price Performance

NYSE:OEC traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.20. 395,746 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 589,391. Orion has a 52-week low of $7.13 and a 52-week high of $19.48. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $9.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. The company has a market cap of $404.00 million, a P/E ratio of 26.65 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 the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). Orion had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 0.82%.The firm had revenue of $466.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $475.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Orion's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Orion will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a interim dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. Orion's dividend payout ratio is 29.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Orion

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Orion by 37.5% in the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,577,197 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $48,015,000 after purchasing an additional 1,248,295 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $34,113,000 after purchasing an additional 21,033 shares in the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Orion by 15.5% in the second quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,424,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $25,438,000 after purchasing an additional 325,995 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Orion by 5.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,000,241 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $20,983,000 after purchasing an additional 110,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Orion by 1.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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