Orion (NYSE:OEC) Sets New 1-Year Low on Disappointing Earnings

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $9.59 and last traded at $10.10, with a volume of 7003 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $11.23.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $477.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $486.06 million. Orion had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 2.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be issued a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on OEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Orion from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Orion from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Orion by 320.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,512 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 72,793 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Orion by 3.2% in 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Orion by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 606,466 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,801,000 after buying an additional 7,586 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Orion by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,911 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $378,000 after buying an additional 3,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in Orion by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,351 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Orion Stock Up 4.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $588.53 million, a P/E ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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.