Orion (NYSE:OEC) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $14.66, but opened at $16.10. Orion shares last traded at $15.48, with a volume of 57,739 shares traded.

The specialty chemicals company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.10. Orion had a return on equity of 18.97% and a net margin of 1.67%. The business had revenue of $434.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $437.03 million.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on OEC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Orion from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on Orion from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Orion by 35.4% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,647,985 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $64,971,000 after acquiring an additional 954,398 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Orion by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,461,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,664,000 after purchasing an additional 602,080 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Orion by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,617,287 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,327,000 after purchasing an additional 265,184 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Orion by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,186,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,529,000 after purchasing an additional 233,342 shares during the period. Finally, Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC grew its stake in Orion by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Minneapolis Portfolio Management Group LLC now owns 1,922,698 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $30,359,000 after buying an additional 320,157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Orion Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.45. The company has a market cap of $889.23 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.35 and a beta of 1.50.

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.