Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Increases Dividend to $0.02 Per Share

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 19th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of 0.021 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Tuesday, January 21st. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02.

Orion has decreased its dividend by an average of 25.5% per year over the last three years. Orion has a dividend payout ratio of 3.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Orion to earn $2.20 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 3.6%.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OEC opened at $16.65 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market capitalization of $970.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.00. Orion has a fifty-two week low of $15.54 and a fifty-two week high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.18). Orion had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.14 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Orion will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $349,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at $16,584,604.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Orion news, CFO Jeffrey Glajch acquired 15,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.16 per share, with a total value of $272,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,849,686.80. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 20,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $349,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,584,604.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 47,500 shares of company stock valued at $845,225. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

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.