Connable Office Inc. Increases Stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Connable Office Inc. grew its position in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,207 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 527 shares during the quarter. Connable Office Inc.’s holdings in Olin were worth $210,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of OLN. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $424,095,000 after purchasing an additional 531,330 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $165,661,000 after purchasing an additional 685,710 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,305,521 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,127,000 after purchasing an additional 97,980 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 37,043 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 19.2% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Olin

In other news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 7,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Olin Price Performance

Olin stock 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.67. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11 and a beta of 1.45. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, December 12th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Olin Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on OLN shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on shares of Olin in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Olin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.38.

Olin 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.