Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,048 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 267,204 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,048 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Olin worth $9,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Olin by 88.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Olin by 357.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 915 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Olin during the third quarter valued at about $47,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in Olin by 246.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Olin by 26.2% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Olin Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:OLN opened at $25.30 on Friday. Olin Co. has a 1 year low of $24.49 and a 1 year high of $60.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. On average, equities analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.89%.

Olin announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to buy up to 45% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OLN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada cut Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Olin

In other Olin news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,435. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.80% 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.