Sei Investments Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 85,016 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,369 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Orion were worth $1,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 207.0% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in shares of Orion in the 2nd quarter valued at $54,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 1,375.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion in the 1st quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Stock Performance

NYSE:OEC opened at $16.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $982.49 million, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.46. Orion S.A. has a fifty-two week low of $15.54 and a fifty-two week high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.14 million. Orion had a return on equity of 19.21% and a net margin of 4.09%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.021 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is 5.41%.

Insider Activity

In other Orion news, CFO Jeffrey Glajch bought 15,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.16 per share, for a total transaction of $272,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,849,686.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Orion news, CFO Jeffrey Glajch bought 15,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $18.16 per share, for a total transaction of $272,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,849,686.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.69 per share, with a total value of $176,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 958,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,960,747.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 47,500 shares of company stock worth $845,225 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OEC has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th.

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.