Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 272,252 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 125,426 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Olin were worth $13,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of OLN. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Olin by 24.8% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,452,708 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $165,661,000 after purchasing an additional 685,710 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $424,095,000 after buying an additional 531,330 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Olin by 429.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 610,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,769,000 after buying an additional 494,976 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in Olin by 70.9% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 544,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,140,000 after acquiring an additional 225,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Olin by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,741,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $176,396,000 after acquiring an additional 194,755 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of Olin stock opened at $33.77 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.40. Olin Co. has a one year low of $32.90 and a one year high of $60.60. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.43.

Olin declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 45% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP R Nichole Sumner sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.75, for a total value of $459,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,052,450. This represents a 30.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OLN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Olin from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Olin from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Olin from $48.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Olin from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Olin from $57.00 to $51.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.14.

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.