Clearbridge Investments LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Clearbridge Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 288,761 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,820 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.25% of Olin worth $9,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in OLN. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Olin by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $125,385,000 after acquiring an additional 256,903 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Olin by 5,746.2% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,613,796 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,546,000 after buying an additional 1,586,192 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Olin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,887,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Olin by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,353,907 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $45,762,000 after buying an additional 58,208 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position 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 worth $44,127,000 after acquiring an additional 97,980 shares in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Olin

In other news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at $203,435. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Olin Stock Up 3.9 %

OLN stock opened at $24.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.46 and a beta of 1.61. Olin Co. has a 1-year low of $22.98 and a 1-year high of $60.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.76. 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 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%. Research analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OLN has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on shares of Olin in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One investment 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.69.

About Olin

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.