John Rogers
, founder of Ariel Investments, has reported buying more shares
of energy management systems company, Orion Energy (
OESX
), widening his stake by 12.72 percent, according to
GuruFocus Real Time Picks
. The play pushes Rogers to 10.2 percent owner of the company.
Starting off with only 45,205 shares, Rogers unremittingly added
to his position since buying the stock in 2009. After his latest
move on the stock, Rogers's total holding has reached 2,047,393
shares.
Orion's stock price has been on a descending path in the last
five years. Within the timeframe, it lost 90.7 percent of its
market value, 68.3 percent in three year's timeframe, and 33.57
percent in 2012 alone.
OESX
data by GuruFocus.com
Based in Manitowoc, Wis., Orion focuses its business on energy
management, developing high-performing lighting products that cut
electricity costs.
Ariel Investments' company profile for Orion highlights that the
company's high intensity fluorescent (
HIF
) lighting systems cut electricity costs by roughly 50 percent.
About 114 out of the Fortune 500 companies use its systems. Most
of its current revenue is from retrofits, or energy efficient
renovations, a market which the company believes is close to $10
billion.
In Orion's latest fiscal results published in November, which
reported Orion's 2013 second quarter results, the company
admitted that its revenue has taken a hit, due to a "challenged
capital spending environment."
"We had a number of large solar deals coming together all at one
time," Orion CEO John Scribante said in the report. "We also had
several non-recurring charges related to income tax and
reorganization expenses."
This reorganization that Scribante spoke of was in regards to his
attainment of the CEO title in September, taking the place of
Orion's then CEO, Neal Verfuerth, whose new title is chairman
emeritus and founder.
The executive rearrangement was accompanied by Scribante's
appointment of new strategies that focus on reducing costs and
expanding Orion's direct sales efforts.
"I look forward to the challenge of improving both our near-term
and long-term bottom-line financial results, while continuing to
focus on increasing our revenues and meeting our goal of
recognizing $250 million in annual revenue by 2017," Scribante
said in September.
About a month into his new position, Scribante spoke during
Orion's 2012 annual shareholders meeting at its Wisconsin
headquarters, reinforcing his new strategies to bring profit to
the company and "vigorous focus" on increasing shareholder value.
"Our products give us life, but profits sustain that life,"
Scribante said in the meeting. "The promise I make to you and
everyone else is, we've got to deliver sales every single day."
Since becoming CEO, Scribante has purchased 9,000 shares of
Orion, in two separate transactions in November. This marked his
first time buying shares as an insider.
(
Market Overview
)
During his prior position as president of Orion's Engineered
Systems division since 2009, and senior vice president of
business development since 2007, Scribante sold 127,000 shares on
six different occasions.
Serving as Orion's CEO for five years prior to Scibante's rein,
Verfuerth only reported five trades as an insider. All
transactions were large sells, ranging between 50,000 shares and
303,255 shares.
Currently, 2.1 percent of Ariel Investments' portfolio represents
the energy sector. About 25 percent of its portfolio is consumer
cyclical stocks and 24 percent represents financial services. (
Sector Weighting
)
Orion's stock is up 0.53 percent this afternoon, trading at
$1.89.
To view the rest of John Roger's latest trades, visit Stock
Picks. Also view his undervalued stocks, his high-yield companies
and his top growth stocks.
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