Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Shares Acquired by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 51,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 6,617 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Olin were worth $1,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of OLN. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Olin by 88.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Olin by 357.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 915 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Olin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 246.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Olin stock opened at $26.65 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.61 and a beta of 1.45. Olin Co. has a 12-month low of $26.28 and a 12-month high of $60.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.07.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. Research analysts expect that Olin Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 12th that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is 88.89%.

Insider Transactions at Olin

In other news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on OLN shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Olin from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.44.

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.