Olin (NYSE:OLN) Stock Rating Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) was downgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $28.00 price target on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $50.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.69% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on OLN. Citigroup reduced 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. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Olin from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.38.

Olin Price Performance

Shares of Olin stock opened at $25.30 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.68. Olin has a 52 week low of $24.49 and a 52 week high of $60.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts expect that Olin will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Olin

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in OLN. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 5,746.2% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,613,796 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,192 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Olin during the 4th quarter valued at $47,887,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $165,661,000 after purchasing an additional 685,710 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 6.4% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 531,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,543,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $153,582,000 after purchasing an additional 467,680 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.67% 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.