Federated Hermes Inc. Grows Holdings in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 15.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,663 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Orion worth $1,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Grizzlyrock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Orion in the 4th quarter valued at about $23,586,000. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new position in Orion in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,174,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Orion by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $61,729,000 after purchasing an additional 304,372 shares during the period. Jade Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Orion by 420.4% during the 4th quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC now owns 328,041 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,097,000 after purchasing an additional 265,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,347,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,556,000 after buying an additional 210,990 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th.

Insider Transactions at Orion

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

Orion Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE OEC opened at $16.65 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $19.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.00. Orion S.A. has a 1-year low of $15.54 and a 1-year high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $970.83 million, a P/E ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Orion Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.021 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.41%.

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.