10,284 Shares in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Bought by Aristides Capital LLC

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 10,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Orion by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 29,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Orion by 1.9% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 34,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $754,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 4.8% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,040 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Orion by 8.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Orion by 7.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 11,949 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Orion

In other news, CEO Corning F. Painter acquired 10,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $17.69 per share, with a total value of $176,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 958,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,960,747.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Corning F. Painter bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.69 per share, with a total value of $176,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 958,776 shares in the company, valued at $16,960,747.44. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Corning F. Painter bought 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.48 per share, for a total transaction of $349,600.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at $16,584,604.48. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 47,500 shares of company stock valued at $845,225 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of OEC opened at $17.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72 and a beta of 1.47. Orion S.A. has a 52 week low of $15.54 and a 52 week high of $28.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.18). Orion had a return on equity of 19.21% and a net margin of 4.09%. The company had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $491.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.021 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is an increase from Orion’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Orion’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.41%.

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.