Orion's (OEC) "Underperform" Rating Reaffirmed at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho has reaffirmed its "underperform" rating for Orion (OEC) and set a price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential downside of 12.85% from the previous close.
• Orion's earnings report showed a miss with $0.32 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $0.36, alongside a revenue decline of 2.2% year-over-year.
• Institutional investors own 94.33% of Orion's stock, highlighting significant backing from hedge funds and investment firms.

Mizuho restated their underperform rating on shares of Orion (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $9.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company's stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on OEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $9.00 price objective (down previously from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research raised Orion to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $11.67.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OEC traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $9.04. 177,829 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 591,401. The company has a market cap of $507.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77 and a beta of 1.05. The business's fifty day moving average price is $10.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. Orion has a 12-month low of $8.68 and a 12-month high of $19.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $466.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $475.77 million. Orion had a return on equity of 16.67% and a net margin of 0.82%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Orion will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a interim dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a yield of 80.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Orion's payout ratio is presently 29.63%.

Institutional Trading of Orion

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion by 37.5% during the second quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,577,197 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248,295 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion by 15.5% during the second quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,424,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $25,438,000 after acquiring an additional 325,995 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the first quarter worth about $4,019,000. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the second quarter worth about $2,743,000. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the first quarter worth about $3,125,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.