Orion (NYSE:OEC) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Orion (NYSE:OEC) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $500.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.43 million. Orion had a negative net margin of 4.98% and a positive return on equity of 2.23%.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of Orion stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $6.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 468,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 589,707. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.57. Orion has a one year low of $4.34 and a one year high of $11.20. The stock has a market cap of $368.51 million, a P/E ratio of -4.08 and a beta of 1.00.

Orion Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 6th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is -5.00%.

Institutional Trading of Orion

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Orion by 0.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,350,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,816,000 after purchasing an additional 7,045 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Orion by 12.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,894,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $14,359,000 after acquiring an additional 213,339 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,807,965 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,546,000 after purchasing an additional 7,898 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,404,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $7,416,000 after buying an additional 236,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 361.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 874,279 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,616,000 after acquiring an additional 684,749 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on OEC. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Orion from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut Orion from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Orion from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Orion presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average target price of $5.92.

Orion Company Profile

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.