T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Trims Position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 60.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,262,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,918,597 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Orion were worth $19,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in OEC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Orion by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 3,630 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 35,294 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Orion by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,186,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,529,000 after acquiring an additional 233,342 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Orion by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 186,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 55,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Orion by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 103,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 8,010 shares during the period. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Orion

In other news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.07 per share, for a total transaction of $43,131.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OEC has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Orion from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $18.00 to $12.00 in a report on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Orion Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of OEC stock opened at $12.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $681.55 million, a PE ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.95. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $10.50 and a 52-week high of $26.05.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.10. Orion had a return on equity of 20.94% and a net margin of 2.35%. The company had revenue of $434.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $437.03 million. On average, analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 11th. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Orion’s payout ratio is 10.67%.

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.