Prudential Financial Inc. Has $306,000 Stock Holdings in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 55.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,062 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,475 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Olin were worth $306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in 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 during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Olin by 5,746.2% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,613,796 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,192 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Olin by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,353,907 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,762,000 after acquiring an additional 58,208 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $44,127,000 after purchasing an additional 97,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Olin by 19.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,015,000 after purchasing an additional 172,768 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OLN opened at $19.65 on Friday. Olin Co. has a 1 year low of $17.66 and a 1 year high of $57.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83 and a beta of 1.50. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.48.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Olin Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Olin from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Olin from $25.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Olin from $34.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.44.

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.