June 11, 2023 – Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. (NYSE:OEC) recently made headlines in the institutional investor world when London-based investment firm, GSA Capital Partners LLP, reduced its stake in the specialty chemicals company. According to the company’s recent Form 13F filing with the SEC, GSA Capital lowered its stake by 29.3% during the fourth quarter of last year, selling off 6,507 shares and owning a remaining 15,670 shares which were worth $279,000 at the end of last reporting period.
However, it’s not all negative news for Orion Engineered Carbons as two vice presidents of the company recently acquired shares in OEC stock. On March 13th this year, VP Carlos Quinones purchased 3,800 shares at an average cost of $23.98 per share for a transaction totaling $91,124.00. Following this purchase by Quinones himself giving confidence to investors who were eyeing this stock curiously.
Additionally on Wednesday March 15th CFO Jeffrey Glajch also acquired 10,000 shares of OEC stock at an average price of $23.82 per share for a total transaction amount of $2380 hundred thousand dollars.
Perhaps boosted by these insider transactions or by other factors such as its current and quick ratios exceeding industry averages and strong growth prospects highlighted by recent partnerships with tire manufacturers such as Continental AG and Hankook Tire America Corp., Orion Engineered Carbons’ stock opened Friday trading at $24.55.
Unsurprisingly based on these latest developments that OEC has a low debt-to-equity ratio relative to industry peers along with robust liquidity positions as evident from their current and quick ratios surpassing or coming close to industry averages make it a good investment choice for long term investors.
The investment community will be watching closely as Orion Engineered Carbons continues making strategic moves to cement its position as a leading player in the specialty chemicals industry.
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Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. Receives Attention from Institutional Investors and Analysts Amidst Impressive Quarterly Earnings
Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. recently saw changes in its institutional investors as Covestor Ltd made a new stake in the company worth $48,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC also lifted its position by 149.4% to 5,158 shares of OEC’s stock valued at $69,000 after adding an additional 3,090 shares last quarter; Citigroup Inc. followed suit with a 48.3% lift to own 5,691 shares worth $101,000; Point72 Hong Kong Ltd also made a purchase of new stake worth $117,000 while Bridgefront Capital LLC added a new stake worth $138,000 during the third quarter that ended in December 2022.
OEC has been receiving attention from analysts lately with StockNews.com giving it a “buy” rating on May 18th and Credit Suisse Group initiating coverage on March 13th with an “outperform” rating and a price objective of $31.00.
JPMorgan Chase & Co., however, revised the stock’s rating from “overweight” to “neutral” and placed the price objective at $26.00. According to data provided by Bloomberg.com, Orion Engineered Carbons has an average target price of $27.00 with one equities research analyst providing the lone hold rating while three other analysts have given it a buy rating.
Insider transactions were also observed during this time period with Vice President Carlos Quinones making two acquisitions within days of each other – purchasing 3,800 shares for $23.98 each on March 13th and another set of 10,000 shares purchased for an average price of $23.82 on March 15th.
This move puts Quinones’ direct share holdings at around 52,335 shares which is valued at approximately $1,254,993. Overseeing financial affairs for OEC, the company’s CFO Jeffrey Glajch also made a purchase of 10,000 shares worth $238,200.
Orion Engineered Carbons’ quarterly earnings for the first quarter of 2023 were impressive as it beat consensus estimates with an EPS of $0.74 compared to $0.63. This has been attributed to the company’s net margin of 5.67% and return on equity of 29.94%. Revenue for Q1 was at $500.70 million which experts claim is likely due to its reported increase in specialty chemicals.
Despite these impressive results, OEC saw a decrease compared to the same period last year and posted earnings per share that is weaker than anticipated although stakeholders are anticipating that Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. will post 2.5 earnings per share this year.
In recent news released by the company, they approved a quarterly dividend wherein shareholders as of September 15th will receive payment amounting to $0.021 per share on October 5th, notwithstanding an ex-dividend date set on September 14th thereby reducing the yield by about 0.34%.