Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Shares in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 200,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,779,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Olin by 6.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $424,095,000 after purchasing an additional 531,330 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Olin by 4.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Olin by 8.1% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 97,980 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Olin by 19.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,015,000 after acquiring an additional 172,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Olin by 70.9% during the 3rd 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 period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Olin

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at $203,435. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group set a $28.00 price target on shares of Olin in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Olin from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.38.

Olin Price Performance

OLN opened at $24.98 on Monday. Olin Co. has a 1 year low of $22.98 and a 1 year high of $60.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75 and a beta of 1.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.67.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Olin Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

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.