Ieq Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Orion S.A. $OEC

Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 190,101 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,260,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Orion during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,638,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Orion in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,898,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Orion by 361.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 874,279 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 684,749 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Orion by 190.0% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 582,141 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,413,000 after purchasing an additional 381,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CastleKnight Management LP raised its holdings in Orion by 376.2% during the fourth quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 471,941 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,492,000 after purchasing an additional 372,841 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Orion Stock Up 3.2%

Shares of NYSE OEC opened at $6.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $348.16 million, a P/E ratio of -3.56 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.03. Orion S.A. has a 1 year low of $4.34 and a 1 year high of $10.85. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $6.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $6.58.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.02). Orion had a negative return on equity of 0.31% and a negative net margin of 5.28%.The business had revenue of $500.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $474.43 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 0.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is -4.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Orion from $7.50 to $8.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Orion from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Orion from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $6.08.

About Orion

Orion Engineered Carbons SA, operating as Orion (NYSE: OEC), is a global producer of carbon black, a critical performance additive used to enhance the strength, durability and conductivity of various materials. The company’s products chiefly serve the tire and rubber industry, where carbon black imparts wear resistance and longevity, as well as the plastics, coatings, inks and battery components markets, where specialty grades deliver tailored conductivity and color properties.

Orion’s product portfolio is organized into two core segments: Rubber and Specialty and Chemical Specialties.