Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Purchased by Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 583.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 220,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 187,977 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.38% of Orion worth $3,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Orion by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,647,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,971,000 after purchasing an additional 954,398 shares during the period. Harvey Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Orion by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 1,696,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $30,206,000 after purchasing an additional 146,500 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Orion by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,301,158 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $23,178,000 after acquiring an additional 5,378 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Orion by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,179,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,001,000 after acquiring an additional 198,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Orion by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 960,349 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,164,000 after acquiring an additional 85,074 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Orion from $21.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Orion Stock Performance

Shares of OEC stock opened at $13.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $744.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.01. Orion S.A. has a 12-month low of $12.51 and a 12-month high of $26.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

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

Orion Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 13th. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.67%.

Insider Transactions at Orion

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