Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $52.73.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Olin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $62.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Olin from $69.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Olin from $59.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on Olin from $59.00 to $49.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Olin from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Olin Stock Performance

Olin stock opened at $44.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.41. Olin has a 12 month low of $39.47 and a 12 month high of $60.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $43.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.08). Olin had a return on equity of 11.73% and a net margin of 4.26%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.71 billion. Olin’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.13 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Olin will post 1.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Olin by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,512 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in Olin in the 4th quarter worth about $1,204,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Olin during the 4th quarter worth about $76,125,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Olin by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 66,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,587,000 after acquiring an additional 11,363 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Olin by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 663,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,780,000 after acquiring an additional 267,460 shares in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.