Orion (NYSE:OEC) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Orion (NYSE:OEC) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Orion from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Orion from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Orion from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $5.75.

Orion Trading Down 1.0%

Orion stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $7.27. 52,306 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 710,593. Orion has a fifty-two week low of $4.34 and a fifty-two week high of $12.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.77 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.26). Orion had a positive return on equity of 6.52% and a negative net margin of 3.88%.The firm had revenue of $411.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.79 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Orion will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Orion

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Divisar Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 10.9% during the third quarter. Divisar Capital Management LLC now owns 2,450,414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,574,000 after acquiring an additional 241,160 shares during the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 106.5% during the third quarter. CSM Advisors LLC now owns 539,961 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,092,000 after acquiring an additional 278,501 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Orion by 6.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,138,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,207,000 after acquiring an additional 137,890 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP increased its position in shares of Orion by 36.9% during the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 402,716 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after acquiring an additional 108,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Medina Value Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Orion by 245.3% during the third quarter. Medina Value Partners LLC now owns 1,238,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,384,000 after acquiring an additional 879,479 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Orion Company 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.