Wall Street Zen Upgrades Orion (NYSE:OEC) to Hold

Orion (NYSE:OEC) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Sunday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on OEC. UBS Group boosted their price target on Orion from $6.00 to $6.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Orion from $4.50 to $5.25 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Orion from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Orion from $9.00 to $5.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Orion in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Strong Sell” and a consensus price target of $5.58.

Orion Price Performance

NYSE OEC opened at $4.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.92 and a beta of 1.05. Orion has a 1-year low of $4.34 and a 1-year high of $14.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.45.

Orion (NYSE:OEC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.26). Orion had a positive return on equity of 6.52% and a negative net margin of 3.88%.The firm had revenue of $411.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.79 million. On average, equities analysts predict that Orion will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Orion

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of OEC. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Orion by 10.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 283,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,661,000 after purchasing an additional 27,442 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Orion by 86.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 149,128 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after buying an additional 69,054 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Orion by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,857 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Orion in the 1st quarter worth $137,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its stake in Orion by 202.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 121,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,566,000 after buying an additional 81,079 shares in the last quarter. 94.33% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Orion

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.