Swiss National Bank Sells 2,100 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 231,132 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.20% of Olin worth $7,812,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in OLN. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 531,330 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Olin by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,385,000 after acquiring an additional 256,903 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Olin by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,353,907 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,762,000 after purchasing an additional 58,208 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Olin by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,305,521 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,127,000 after purchasing an additional 97,980 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Olin by 19.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,015,000 after purchasing an additional 172,768 shares in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OLN has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Olin from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Olin from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.38.

Olin Stock Performance

NYSE OLN opened at $24.98 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $28.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.71. Olin Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.98 and a fifty-two week high of $60.60. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.75 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Olin announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in 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 generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Olin

In other Olin news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% 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.