Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Acquires 26,132 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 42.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,132 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned 0.15% of Orion worth $1,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 3.8% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 2,724,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $59,768,000 after purchasing an additional 99,613 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 15.4% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 57,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,262,000 after purchasing an additional 7,663 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Orion during the second quarter valued at $54,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Orion during the second quarter valued at $269,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 18.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,347,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,556,000 after purchasing an additional 210,990 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on OEC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Orion Stock Up 3.4 %

Orion stock opened at $16.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $986.87 million, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.39. Orion S.A. has a one year low of $15.54 and a one year high of $28.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.58 and a 200 day moving average of $22.19.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.14 million. Orion had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Orion’s payout ratio is 5.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 20,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.48 per share, for a total transaction of $349,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,584,604.48. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 20,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.48 per share, for a total transaction of $349,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 948,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,584,604.48. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Dan F. Smith purchased 2,500 shares of Orion stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.53 per share, with a total value of $46,325.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,645.16. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 47,500 shares of company stock worth $845,225 over the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.