William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,461,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 602,080 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Orion worth $54,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of OEC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Orion by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 8,321 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Orion by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,179,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,001,000 after buying an additional 198,182 shares during the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 377,198 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,718,000 after purchasing an additional 52,807 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Orion by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 75,867 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 35,207 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Orion by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Orion

In other Orion news, VP Carlos Quinones bought 3,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $13.07 per share, with a total value of $43,131.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares in the company, 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 available through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Orion Price Performance

Orion stock opened at $13.48 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $14.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.94. Orion S.A. has a 1 year low of $12.51 and a 1 year high of $26.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $763.41 million, a P/E ratio of 17.97 and a beta of 1.52. 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 (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.10. Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. The firm had revenue of $434.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $437.03 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st.

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.