Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on Orion (NYSE:OEC)

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Orion (NYSE:OEC) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Zacks reports. The brokerage set a “strong-buy” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on OEC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Orion from $8.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Orion from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Orion from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.58.

Orion Trading Down 5.2%

Shares of OEC traded down $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $3.96. The company had a trading volume of 900,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 401,089. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.34. Orion has a 1-year low of $3.91 and a 1-year high of $8.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market cap of $223.54 million, a PE ratio of -6.82 and a beta of 1.05.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.08). Orion had a negative return on equity of 0.31% and a negative net margin of 5.28%. The business had revenue of $472.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $445.99 million. Research analysts forecast that Orion will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Orion

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Orion during the second quarter worth about $31,638,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Orion during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,898,000. JB Capital Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,214,350. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,080,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Orion in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,388,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

About Orion

Orion SA, formerly known as Orion Engineered Carbons SA, is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and sells carbon-based products. Its portfolio includes specialty carbon black, high-performance carbon black, conductive additives and other carbon materials used in a range of industrial and consumer applications.

The company’s products help provide color, conductivity, reinforcement, ultraviolet protection and other performance characteristics in products such as coatings, paints, printing inks, plastics, adhesives, sealants, batteries, tires and other rubber goods.