Orion (NYSE:OEC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Orion (NYSE:OEC) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.07), Zacks reports. Orion had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 16.67%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Orion Stock Down 8.2%

Shares of OEC traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $4.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,488,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 824,014. Orion has a 1-year low of $4.86 and a 1-year high of $19.48. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.79. The company has a market cap of $273.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.02 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Orion Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a interim dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 80.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.63%.

Institutional Trading of Orion

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Orion by 3.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,857 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,097 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in Orion by 2.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 85,855 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $901,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in Orion by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 39,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Orion by 321.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,382 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 5,632 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Orion in the 1st quarter valued at about $137,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on OEC. Mizuho set a $6.00 price target on shares of Orion in a research note on Monday, October 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Zacks Research raised Orion from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Orion from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $12.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $7.33.

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.