Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.02

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 20th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.0207 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st.

Orion has decreased its dividend by an average of 25.5% annually over the last three years. Orion has a payout ratio of 3.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Orion to earn $2.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 3.3%.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of OEC opened at $21.94 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.82 and a beta of 1.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.01 and its 200-day moving average is $23.96. Orion has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $502.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $506.38 million. Orion had a net margin of 4.64% and a return on equity of 21.07%. Orion’s revenue for the quarter was up .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Orion will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Orion news, VP Carlos Quinones purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.51 per share, with a total value of $94,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 69,702 shares in the company, valued at $1,638,694.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Orion news, VP Sandra Niewiem sold 8,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.21, for a total transaction of $201,064.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,099 shares in the company, valued at $341,336.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 4,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.51 per share, for a total transaction of $94,040.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now directly owns 69,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,638,694.02. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on OEC shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Orion from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Orion from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.25.

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.