Summit Global Investments Buys 10,176 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Summit Global Investments grew its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 23.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 54,268 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 10,176 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments owned approximately 0.09% of Orion worth $1,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Orion by 1,355.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 687,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $19,069,000 after purchasing an additional 640,398 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Orion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $318,000. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in Orion during the 4th quarter worth approximately $505,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Orion by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,625 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,213 shares during the period. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Orion during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on OEC shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Orion from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut their target price on Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Orion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Orion Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:OEC traded down $0.64 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.60. 592,585 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 380,185. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $28.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.64 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $502.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $506.38 million. Orion had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 5.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.021 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 11th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4.62%.

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.