West Tower Group LLC Has $2.03 Million Stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

West Tower Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,519 shares during the period. Orion comprises approximately 4.3% of West Tower Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. West Tower Group LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Orion worth $2,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of OEC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Orion by 4.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,807,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,523,000 after buying an additional 77,952 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Orion by 20.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,179,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,001,000 after buying an additional 198,182 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Orion in the third quarter worth approximately $4,620,000. Divisar Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Orion by 7.3% in the second quarter. Divisar Capital Management LLC now owns 805,082 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,663,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Orion by 16.3% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 377,198 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,718,000 after buying an additional 52,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on OEC. StockNews.com lowered shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Orion from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th.

Orion Price Performance

NYSE:OEC opened at $18.78 on Tuesday. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $14.94 and a one year high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $16.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.78.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Orion had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 18.97%. The business had revenue of $463.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $489.01 million. Research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.021 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. This is an increase from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is 15.09%.

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.