Orion (NYSE:OEC) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Orion (NYSE:OEC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Orion from $7.00 to $7.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Orion from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus target price of $5.92.

Orion Stock Performance

NYSE:OEC opened at $5.63 on Monday. Orion has a 1-year low of $4.34 and a 1-year high of $11.62. The stock has a market cap of $317.31 million, a P/E ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $7.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.42.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.18). Orion had a negative net margin of 4.98% and a positive return on equity of 2.23%. The business had revenue of $459.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $434.31 million. On average, research analysts expect that Orion will post 0.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Orion

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Medina Value Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Orion by 245.3% during the third quarter. Medina Value Partners LLC now owns 1,238,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,384,000 after buying an additional 879,479 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Orion by 361.3% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 874,279 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,616,000 after acquiring an additional 684,749 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Orion by 190.0% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 582,141 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,413,000 after acquiring an additional 381,388 shares during the period. CastleKnight Management LP grew its stake in shares of Orion by 376.2% in the fourth quarter. CastleKnight Management LP now owns 471,941 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,492,000 after purchasing an additional 372,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Orion in the fourth quarter worth $1,910,000. Institutional investors own 94.33% of the company’s stock.

Orion Company Profile

Orion Engineered Carbons SA, operating as Orion (NYSE: OEC), is a global producer of carbon black, a critical performance additive used to enhance the strength, durability and conductivity of various materials. The company’s products chiefly serve the tire and rubber industry, where carbon black imparts wear resistance and longevity, as well as the plastics, coatings, inks and battery components markets, where specialty grades deliver tailored conductivity and color properties.

Orion’s product portfolio is organized into two core segments: Rubber and Specialty and Chemical Specialties.