William Blair Investment Management LLC Purchases 99,613 Shares of Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC)

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Orion S.A. (NYSE:OEC) by 3.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,724,139 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 99,613 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Orion were worth $59,768,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Orion by 207.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Orion during the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Orion by 1,375.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares in the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Orion during the first quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Orion in the first quarter worth $221,000. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Orion Trading Up 3.4 %

OEC stock opened at $16.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. Orion S.A. has a twelve month low of $15.54 and a twelve month high of $28.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $986.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.19.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.18). Orion had a net margin of 4.09% and a return on equity of 19.21%. The firm had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $491.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Orion S.A. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Orion Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 1st will be given a dividend of $0.0207 per share. This represents a $0.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 1st. Orion’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Orion

In other news, Director Dan F. Smith acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $18.53 per share, for a total transaction of $46,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,645.16. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Jeffrey Glajch purchased 15,000 shares of Orion stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.16 per share, with a total value of $272,400.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,849,686.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dan F. Smith purchased 2,500 shares of Orion stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.53 per share, for a total transaction of $46,325.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 78,772 shares in the company, valued at $1,459,645.16. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 47,500 shares of company stock worth $845,225 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OEC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Orion from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Orion from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th.

Orion 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.