Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Sold by West Tower Group LLC

West Tower Group LLC reduced its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,553 shares during the period. Orion accounts for approximately 3.9% of West Tower Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. West Tower Group LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Orion worth $1,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Orion by 35.4% during 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 lifted its stake in Orion by 21.1% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,461,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 602,080 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC lifted its stake in Orion by 9.5% during the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 1,696,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,206,000 after purchasing an additional 146,500 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Orion by 0.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,301,158 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $23,178,000 after purchasing an additional 5,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Orion by 20.2% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,179,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,001,000 after purchasing an additional 198,182 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on OEC. 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 note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

Orion Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:OEC opened at $13.76 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $779.33 million, a PE ratio of 18.34 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.91.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $434.20 million during 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Orion

In related news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the purchase, the vice president now owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,705.14. This represents a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

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.