Olin (NYSE:OLN) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) shares hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $31.13 and last traded at $31.80, with a volume of 1552569 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OLN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Olin from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Olin from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Olin from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Olin from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Olin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Olin Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $38.39 and its 200 day moving average is $42.62. The company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.48.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

Olin announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Olin

In other Olin news, VP R Nichole Sumner sold 10,500 shares of Olin stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.75, for a total value of $459,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,052,450. The trade was a 30.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OLN. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Olin by 88.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Olin by 357.5% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 915 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Olin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Olin by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Olin by 4,862.5% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,588 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Olin

Olin Corporation manufactures and distributes chemical products in the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls; Epoxy; and Winchester. The Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls segment offers chlorine and caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomers, methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products, potassium hydroxide, and chlorinated organics intermediates and solvents.