Mariner Investment Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Mariner Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 10,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $355,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OLN. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Olin by 24.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,452,708 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $165,661,000 after purchasing an additional 685,710 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Olin by 6.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $424,095,000 after buying an additional 531,330 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Olin by 429.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 610,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,769,000 after buying an additional 494,976 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Olin by 70.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 544,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,140,000 after acquiring an additional 225,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Olin by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,015,000 after acquiring an additional 172,768 shares in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Olin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OLN opened at $32.71 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $36.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.63. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.48. Olin Co. has a 52 week low of $30.69 and a 52 week high of $60.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Olin declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 purchase up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Olin

In other Olin news, VP R Nichole Sumner sold 10,500 shares of Olin stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.75, for a total transaction of $459,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,052,450. This trade represents a 30.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OLN. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Olin from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Olin from $41.00 to $31.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Olin from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.07.

Olin Profile

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.