BNP Paribas Financial Markets Trims Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets reduced its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 40,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 23,780 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Orion were worth $722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CWM LLC increased its stake in Orion by 207.0% in the second 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 last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in Orion in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,000. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 76.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,776 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Orion in the second quarter worth approximately $140,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Orion Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:OEC opened at $17.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.94 and a beta of 1.51. Orion S.A. has a 1 year low of $14.94 and a 1 year high of $28.48. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.06). Orion had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 1.67%. The business had revenue of $463.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $489.01 million. Equities analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.021 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on OEC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Orion from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

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.