Inherent Group LP Sells 1,698,894 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Inherent Group LP cut its holdings in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 62.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,042,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,698,894 shares during the quarter. Orion accounts for 19.7% of Inherent Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Inherent Group LP owned approximately 1.79% of Orion worth $22,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grizzlyrock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $23,586,000. Schroder Investment Management Group purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,174,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,624,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $61,729,000 after purchasing an additional 304,372 shares during the last quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 420.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $29,556,000 after purchasing an additional 210,990 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of 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 report on Friday, August 9th.

Orion Trading Down 3.8 %

NYSE OEC opened at $16.01 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $18.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.96. The company has a market capitalization of $933.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 1.47. Orion S.A. has a 12 month low of $15.54 and a 12 month high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.14 million. Orion had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.021 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.