Orion (NYSE:OEC) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Orion (NYSE:OEC) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $21.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their prior price target of $20.00.

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th.

Orion Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:OEC opened at $17.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.24. Orion has a 52-week low of $14.94 and a 52-week high of $28.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $992.78 million, a P/E ratio of 32.70 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.17.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $463.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $489.01 million. Orion had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 18.97%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Orion will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.021 dividend. This is a boost from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Orion’s payout ratio is presently 15.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Orion

In other news, CEO Corning F. Painter bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.69 per share, for a total transaction of $176,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 958,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,960,747.44. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OEC. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in Orion by 129.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 25,321 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $451,000 after buying an additional 14,286 shares in the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion by 31.7% in the third quarter. West Tower Group LLC now owns 114,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 27,519 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Orion by 16.0% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 45,559 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $811,000 after purchasing an additional 6,268 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 875,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,589,000 after buying an additional 34,183 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Orion in the third quarter valued at about $4,620,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

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.