Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Holdings in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,911 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Olin were worth $595,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Olin by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,385,000 after buying an additional 256,903 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted 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 acquiring an additional 1,586,192 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Olin during the 4th quarter worth $47,887,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 58,208 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Olin by 8.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on OLN shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Olin from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Olin from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Olin from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Olin presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.81.

Olin Price Performance

OLN opened at $17.87 on Wednesday. Olin Co. has a 1 year low of $17.66 and a 1 year high of $59.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 19.85 and a beta of 1.50. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Olin Co. will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

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

Insider Transactions at Olin

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.