Renaissance Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Renaissance Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,495 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,534 shares during the period. Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings in Orion were worth $1,713,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in OEC. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Orion by 122.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 25,627 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 14,125 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Orion by 1,015.2% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 73,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 67,000 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 148.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 151,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,693,000 after purchasing an additional 90,292 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Orion in the 3rd quarter valued at about $415,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Orion during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $706,000. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Orion

In related news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,705.14. The trade was a 4.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.20% of the company’s stock.

Orion Stock Down 7.0 %

Orion stock opened at $10.76 on Wednesday. Orion S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $10.65 and a fifty-two week high of $26.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $609.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.44. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $434.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.03 million. Orion had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 2.35%. Analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.