Medina Value Partners LLC Grows Stake in Orion S.A. $OEC

Medina Value Partners LLC grew its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 245.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,238,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 879,479 shares during the quarter. Orion makes up 2.2% of Medina Value Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Medina Value Partners LLC’s holdings in Orion were worth $9,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Orion by 18.9% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 270,230 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 42,879 shares during the period. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Orion by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 168,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 43,843 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Orion by 261.0% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 131,981 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 95,420 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion during the third quarter valued at approximately $429,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Orion by 204.5% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 131,968 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 88,633 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Orion from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Orion from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Orion from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Orion from $9.00 to $5.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Orion presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $5.58.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OEC traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.96. The stock had a trading volume of 23,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 734,257. Orion S.A. has a twelve month low of $4.34 and a twelve month high of $13.93. The firm has a market cap of $279.10 million, a PE ratio of -3.93 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average of $6.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.39.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $411.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $365.79 million. Orion had a positive return on equity of 6.52% and a negative net margin of 3.88%. Research analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 12th will be issued a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 12th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is presently -6.35%.

Orion Profile

Orion Engineered Carbons SA, operating as Orion (NYSE: OEC), is a global producer of carbon black, a critical performance additive used to enhance the strength, durability and conductivity of various materials. The company’s products chiefly serve the tire and rubber industry, where carbon black imparts wear resistance and longevity, as well as the plastics, coatings, inks and battery components markets, where specialty grades deliver tailored conductivity and color properties.

Orion’s product portfolio is organized into two core segments: Rubber and Specialty and Chemical Specialties.