Blue Trust Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,636 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 513 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Olin were worth $55,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vontobel Holding Ltd. bought a new stake in Olin in the fourth quarter worth $328,000. Regents Gate Capital LLP bought a new position in Olin in the 4th quarter worth about $1,834,000. Entropy Technologies LP grew its position in Olin by 460.3% during the 4th quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 75,631 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 62,132 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Olin by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 22,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in Olin by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 5,833 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on OLN. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Olin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OLN opened at $26.65 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61 and a beta of 1.45. Olin Co. has a twelve month low of $26.28 and a twelve month high of $60.60.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 research analysts expect that Olin Co. will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.