Blue Trust Inc. Sells 513 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Blue Trust Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Olin were worth $55,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of OLN. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Olin by 24.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Olin by 6.4% during the third 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. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in Olin by 70.9% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 544,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,140,000 after acquiring an additional 225,930 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Olin by 19.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,015,000 after purchasing an additional 172,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Olin by 504.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 167,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,022,000 after purchasing an additional 139,549 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on OLN. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Olin from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler cut shares of Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Olin presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.44.

Olin Price Performance

OLN stock opened at $26.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.61 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Olin Co. has a 12-month low of $26.28 and a 12-month high of $60.60.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 45% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Olin Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

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.