Inspire Investing LLC Purchases 738 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,040 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 738 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Orion were worth $352,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of OEC. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Orion by 207.0% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Orion during the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Orion by 1,375.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion in the first quarter worth about $104,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Orion during the first quarter worth approximately $221,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Orion Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE OEC opened at $16.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Orion S.A. has a 12 month low of $15.54 and a 12 month high of $28.48. The company has a market capitalization of $970.83 million, a PE ratio of 11.25 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.00.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last announced 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). Orion had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The firm had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $491.14 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Orion news, Director Dan F. Smith purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.53 per share, for a total transaction of $46,325.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 78,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,645.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Dan F. Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.53 per share, with a total value of $46,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,645.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Corning F. Painter bought 20,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, 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 quarter, insiders have acquired 47,500 shares of company stock valued at $845,225. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.