Orion Engineered Carbons (NYSE:OEC) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Orion Engineered Carbons (NYSE:OEC – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

OEC has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Orion Engineered Carbons from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. TheStreet raised Orion Engineered Carbons from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group began coverage on Orion Engineered Carbons in a research report on Monday, March 13th. They set an outperform rating and a $31.00 target price for the company.

Orion Engineered Carbons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OEC opened at $24.13 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.68. Orion Engineered Carbons has a 1-year low of $12.87 and a 1-year high of $26.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 1.65.

Orion Engineered Carbons (NYSE:OEC – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 17th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.10. Orion Engineered Carbons had a return on equity of 28.89% and a net margin of 5.23%. The firm had revenue of $462.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $441.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Orion Engineered Carbons will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Orion Engineered Carbons Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 21st will be issued a $0.0207 dividend. This represents a $0.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 20th. Orion Engineered Carbons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.98 per share, with a total value of $91,124.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 52,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,254,993.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Carlos Quinones acquired 3,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $23.98 per share, with a total value of $91,124.00. Following the acquisition, the vice president now owns 52,335 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,254,993.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Glajch acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.82 per share, with a total value of $238,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 60,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,445,064.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Orion Engineered Carbons

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OEC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Orion Engineered Carbons by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 241,448 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,857,000 after acquiring an additional 47,440 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Orion Engineered Carbons by 49.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 418,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,677,000 after buying an additional 138,509 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Orion Engineered Carbons by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 63,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 3,487 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd purchased a new position in Orion Engineered Carbons during the 1st quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Orion Engineered Carbons by 20.6% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,292 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 2,615 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.98% of the company’s stock.

Orion Engineered Carbons Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Orion Engineered Carbons SA engages in the production and supply of carbon black. It operates through the following segments: Specialty Carbon Black and Rubber Carbon Black. The Specialty Carbon Black segment manufactures specialty carbon black at multiple sites for a broad range of specialized applications.