Orion (NYSE:OEC) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Orion (NYSE:OEC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on OEC. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Orion in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.80.

Orion Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of OEC traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.50. 237,737 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 383,934. Orion has a 1-year low of $19.32 and a 1-year high of $28.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.30 and a 200 day moving average of $23.23.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.21). Orion had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 24.45%. The company had revenue of $468.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $421.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Orion will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Orion in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in Orion in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Orion by 101.1% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,267 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Orion by 121.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Orion by 1,770.6% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505 shares during the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.