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

Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.38.

Several research analysts have commented on OLN shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Olin from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Olin from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Olin Price Performance

NYSE OLN opened at $24.87 on Friday. Olin has a 1 year low of $22.98 and a 1 year high of $60.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.63 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Olin will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. 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 payout ratio is 88.89%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 531,330 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Olin by 11.5% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 467,680 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,976,869 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $134,413,000 after buying an additional 178,145 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 7.4% during 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 buying an additional 256,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Olin by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,201,233 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $108,202,000 after acquiring an additional 265,745 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

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.