Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 738 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Olin were worth $98,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Olin by 24.8% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,452,708 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $165,661,000 after acquiring an additional 685,710 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Olin by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,295,699 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,168,000 after acquiring an additional 37,043 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised 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. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Olin by 2.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,061,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $50,907,000 after purchasing an additional 25,163 shares during the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Olin Price Performance

Shares of OLN stock opened at $28.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.55. Olin Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.48 and a fifty-two week high of $60.60.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Olin Co. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 buy up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on OLN shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Olin from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Olin from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Olin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.94.

Insider Activity at Olin

In other news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of Olin 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 approximately $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.