Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,510 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.15% of Orion worth $2,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Orion by 24.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 241,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,857,000 after purchasing an additional 47,440 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Orion by 49.5% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 418,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,677,000 after acquiring an additional 138,509 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Orion by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 63,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 3,487 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in Orion during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Orion by 20.6% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,292 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,615 shares during the last quarter. 89.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Several research firms have recently commented on OEC. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Orion from $41.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Orion from $26.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Credit Suisse Group reduced their price objective on Orion from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Orion in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $26.50.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on OEC

In related news, CEO Corning F. Painter purchased 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.59 per share, for a total transaction of $323,850.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 771,708 shares in the company, valued at $16,661,175.72. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

OEC stock opened at $21.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.44. Orion S.A. has a 52-week low of $12.87 and a 52-week high of $26.91. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $21.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.53.

Orion (NYSE:OEC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.06). Orion had a return on equity of 27.96% and a net margin of 5.92%. The business had revenue of $458.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $501.83 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Orion S.A. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 5th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.021 per share. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Orion's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4.15%.

Orion SA, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells 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 polymers, coatings, and battery electrodes.

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