Dean Capital Management Has $479,000 Stock Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Dean Capital Management lowered its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 28,337 shares during the period. Dean Capital Management owned 0.05% of Orion worth $479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Orion by 320.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,512 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 72,793 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Orion by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 717,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $11,327,000 after purchasing an additional 110,911 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC lifted its position in Orion by 72.1% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Lake Advisors LLC now owns 69,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 29,100 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,747,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,588,000 after purchasing an additional 188,131 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carlos Quinones purchased 3,300 shares of Orion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Orion Stock Performance

NYSE:OEC traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.45. The stock had a trading volume of 905,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,542. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $12.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.59. The stock has a market cap of $588.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.24. Orion S.A. has a twelve month low of $9.59 and a twelve month high of $26.05.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.31). The company had revenue of $477.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $486.06 million. Orion had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 2.35%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 11th. Orion's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Orion from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

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.