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

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

OEC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Orion in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Orion from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Orion presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $27.80.

Orion Stock Down 0.7 %

Orion stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $23.50. The stock had a trading volume of 237,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 383,934. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.23. Orion has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $28.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $468.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $421.62 million. Orion had a return on equity of 24.45% and a net margin of 5.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Orion will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Orion

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 154.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 20,335 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 12,343 shares during the period. Counterpoint Mutual Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion in the 1st quarter worth approximately $271,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,729,990 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $47,973,000 after purchasing an additional 111,363 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,956 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 60,620 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,681,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

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.