Citigroup Cuts Olin (NYSE:OLN) Price Target to $30.00

Olin (NYSE:OLN) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $34.00 to $30.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $28.00 target price on Olin in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $50.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Olin has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.44.

Olin Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:OLN opened at $24.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.27 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.27. Olin has a 1 year low of $22.98 and a 1 year high of $60.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.33 and a 200-day moving average of $36.13.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released 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 net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 5.10%. Equities analysts predict that Olin will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of OLN. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Olin by 5,746.2% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,613,796 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,546,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586,192 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Olin during the fourth quarter worth $47,887,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 6.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $424,095,000 after acquiring an additional 531,330 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Olin by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,543,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $153,582,000 after purchasing an additional 467,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Olin by 890.4% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 451,020 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,244,000 after purchasing an additional 405,480 shares in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.