Olin (NYSE:OLN) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Olin (NYSE:OLN) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $35.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $25.00.

OLN has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho increased their target price on Olin from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Olin from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Olin from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Olin in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Olin has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.43.

Olin Stock Performance

OLN stock opened at $29.00 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of -76.31 and a beta of 1.37. Olin has a 1-year low of $17.74 and a 1-year high of $30.46.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.58). The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Olin had a negative return on equity of 0.48% and a negative net margin of 0.63%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.09 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Olin will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -210.53%.

Insider Transactions at Olin

In other Olin news, CFO Todd A. Slater sold 92,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total transaction of $2,073,780.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,661.68. This represents a 67.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Angela M. Castle sold 2,379 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total transaction of $57,690.75. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 1,528 shares in the company, valued at $37,054. This represents a 60.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 99,379 shares of company stock worth $2,238,298 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Choreo LLC bought a new position in shares of Olin in the third quarter worth $726,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Olin by 6.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,639,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,974,000 after purchasing an additional 105,484 shares during the period. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. bought a new position in Olin in the 2nd quarter valued at about $989,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Olin in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,761,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Olin by 142.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 455,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,493,000 after buying an additional 267,458 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Company Profile

Olin Corporation is a diversified manufacturer specializing in chemical products and ammunition. The company’s core business activities encompass the production and distribution of chlor-alkali products, epoxy resins and derivatives, and small-caliber ammunition under the Winchester brand. Olin’s chemical operations supply chlorine, caustic soda and related co-products to a wide range of end markets, including water treatment, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals and general industrial applications.

In its Chlor Alkali Products & Vinyls segment, Olin operates multiple manufacturing facilities that produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide, along with vinyl chloride monomer and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds.