Orion (NYSE:OEC) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $15.67, but opened at $16.83. Orion shares last traded at $16.98, with a volume of 100,112 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Orion from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th.

Orion Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.11 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $463.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $489.01 million. Orion had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 1.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.021 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Orion

In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.69 per share, for a total transaction of $176,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 958,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,960,747.44. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Orion

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Orion by 35.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,647,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,971,000 after purchasing an additional 954,398 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,724,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $59,768,000 after purchasing an additional 99,613 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,877,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,197,000 after purchasing an additional 80,266 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,807,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,523,000 after purchasing an additional 77,952 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,347,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,556,000 after purchasing an additional 210,990 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.