Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Sold by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. trimmed its position in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 55.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 94,303 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 116,045 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Orion were worth $1,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Orion by 16.3% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 377,198 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,718,000 after buying an additional 52,807 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Orion by 86.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 75,867 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 35,207 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Orion by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Orion in the third quarter valued at about $406,000. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 35.4% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,647,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $64,971,000 after purchasing an additional 954,398 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on OEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price 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 lowered their price objective on shares of Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Insider Activity at Orion

In related news, VP Carlos Quinones bought 3,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.07 per share, with a total value of $43,131.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,705.14. This trade represents a 4.32 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Orion Stock Performance

NYSE:OEC opened at $13.89 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $14.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $786.70 million, a P/E ratio of 18.51 and a beta of 1.52. Orion S.A. has a 1-year low of $12.51 and a 1-year high of $26.05.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $434.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.03 million. On average, research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.67%.

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.