Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.38.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on OLN shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America raised Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $50.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olin

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OLN. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Olin by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $424,095,000 after acquiring an additional 531,330 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Olin by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,543,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $153,582,000 after purchasing an additional 467,680 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Olin by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,976,869 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $134,413,000 after purchasing an additional 178,145 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Olin by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $125,385,000 after purchasing an additional 256,903 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Olin by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,201,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $108,202,000 after purchasing an additional 265,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Stock Down 1.8 %

OLN stock opened at $24.87 on Friday. Olin has a twelve month low of $22.98 and a twelve month high of $60.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.88.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Olin will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is 88.89%.

Olin announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, December 12th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Olin Company 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.