Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Raises Holdings in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 41.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,062 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 23,829 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Olin were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Olin by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Olin by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 143,062 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,835,000 after buying an additional 51,051 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Olin by 82.9% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 2,476 shares during the period. Mariner Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Olin in the 4th quarter valued at $355,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Olin by 37.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 125,913 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,042,000 after acquiring an additional 34,485 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OLN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Olin from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. 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, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Olin news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at $203,435. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of OLN stock opened at $24.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.61. Olin Co. has a one year low of $22.98 and a one year high of $60.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.97.

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

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.89%.

Olin announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program 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 programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.