Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Receives $40.44 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.44.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on OLN shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Olin from $40.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Olin from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Olin from $43.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th.

Olin Price Performance

OLN opened at $26.89 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88 and a beta of 1.45. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.31. Olin has a twelve month low of $26.48 and a twelve month high of $60.60.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 5.10%. Equities analysts expect that Olin will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

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

Olin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Olin

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Olin by 5,746.2% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,613,796 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,192 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Olin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,887,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 685,710 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $424,095,000 after buying an additional 531,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 467,680 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

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.