JB Capital Partners LP Acquires New Position in Orion S.A. $OEC

JB Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 335,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 30,641 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 1,680 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Orion during the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Orion by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 797,905 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,213,000 after buying an additional 324,921 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 295.0% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 40,473 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $214,000 after buying an additional 30,227 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Orion by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 823,238 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,347,000 after buying an additional 105,336 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Orion Stock Up 9.9%

Shares of NYSE OEC opened at $8.26 on Friday. Orion S.A. has a 12 month low of $4.34 and a 12 month high of $11.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $465.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.16 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $7.15 and a 200-day moving average of $6.20.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.18). Orion had a positive return on equity of 2.23% and a negative net margin of 4.98%.The business had revenue of $459.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $434.31 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Orion’s payout ratio is presently -5.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OEC shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Orion from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Orion from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Mizuho upped their price target on Orion from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Orion from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $5.92.

About Orion

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.