Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Stock Position Boosted by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 32.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 928,425 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 229,156 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 1.61% of Orion worth $14,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Orion by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 57,672 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $984,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $378,000 after purchasing an additional 3,646 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Orion by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Orion by 72.1% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC now owns 69,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 29,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 79,177 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,245 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $13.07 per share, with a total value of $43,131.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,705.14. The trade was a 4.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on OEC shares. UBS Group cut their price target on 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. downgraded shares of Orion from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Orion Trading Down 2.6%

OEC traded down $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $11.06. 64,986 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 529,803. Orion S.A. has a 1 year low of $9.59 and a 1 year high of $26.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.43. The firm has a market cap of $622.06 million, a P/E ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The company had revenue of $477.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $486.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be paid a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.39%.

Orion 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.