Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,774 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,557 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Olin were worth $1,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Olin by 5,746.2% during 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 last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Olin in the 4th quarter valued at $47,887,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Olin by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,385,000 after purchasing an additional 256,903 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Olin in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,779,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 19.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,015,000 after buying an additional 172,768 shares in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Olin

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 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, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on OLN shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Olin from $25.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $23.00 price target on Olin in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Olin from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.25.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of OLN stock opened at $20.93 on Tuesday. Olin Co. has a one year low of $17.66 and a one year high of $57.10. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26 and a beta of 1.50.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

Olin 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.