Orion’s (OEC) “Sell (D)” Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Orion (NYSE:OEC)‘s stock had its “sell (d)” rating reaffirmed by Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Saturday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on OEC. UBS Group cut Orion from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $12.00 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Orion from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $9.00 price target (down from $10.00) on shares of Orion in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Mizuho set a $6.00 price target on Orion in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Orion presently has an average rating of “Strong Sell” and an average price target of $7.33.

Orion Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OEC opened at $5.75 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $8.44 and its 200 day moving average is $10.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $322.64 million, a P/E ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 1.02. Orion has a fifty-two week low of $5.23 and a fifty-two week high of $19.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.04). Orion had a net margin of 0.82% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The firm had revenue of $466.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $475.77 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Orion will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Orion

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Orion by 37.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,577,197 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,015,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248,295 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Orion by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 2,424,995 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,438,000 after acquiring an additional 325,995 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Orion during the 1st quarter valued at $4,019,000. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Orion in the 2nd quarter worth $2,743,000. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Orion during the 1st quarter worth $3,125,000. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Orion Company Profile

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.