Orion (NYSE:OEC) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Orion (NYSE:OEC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on OEC. UBS Group lowered their price target on Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho began coverage on Orion in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Orion currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.80.

Orion Price Performance

NYSE:OEC opened at $23.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.97. The company has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60 and a beta of 1.63. Orion has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $28.48.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $468.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $421.62 million. Orion had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 24.45%. Orion’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Orion will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Orion

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OEC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Orion by 24.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 241,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,857,000 after acquiring an additional 47,440 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 49.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 418,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,677,000 after buying an additional 138,509 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 5.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 63,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 3,487 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Orion in the first quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Orion by 20.6% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,292 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 2,615 shares during the period. 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.