Insider Buying: Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) VP Acquires $43,131.00 in Stock

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) VP Carlos Quinones bought 3,300 shares of Orion stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased 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 approximately $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Orion Stock Up 3.2 %

OEC stock opened at $13.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $744.72 million, a P/E ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.52. Orion S.A. has a 52 week low of $12.51 and a 52 week high of $26.05. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $434.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.03 million. Orion had a net margin of 2.35% and a return on equity of 20.94%. On average, research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be issued a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.67%.

Institutional Trading of Orion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 32,760 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 11.4% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 3.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 57,672 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on OEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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 reduced their target price on shares of Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

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.