Orion (NYSE:OEC) Sets New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $13.14 and last traded at $13.15, with a volume of 393554 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Orion Stock Down 5.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $14.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.29. The company has a market cap of $745.85 million, a P/E ratio of 17.55 and a beta of 1.50.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $434.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $437.03 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Orion

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning purchased a new position in Orion in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $490,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 24.6% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 42,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 8,321 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Orion by 103.8% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 128,501 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,289,000 after buying an additional 65,453 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $21,001,000 after buying an additional 198,182 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Orion during the 3rd quarter valued at $190,000. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

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.