Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $27.80.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OLN. Barclays dropped their price target on Olin from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Olin from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Olin from $28.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Olin from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Olin from $28.00 to $20.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 12th.

Olin Stock Performance

Olin stock opened at $19.42 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.33. 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 cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.58 and a beta of 1.56. Olin has a fifty-two week low of $17.66 and a fifty-two week high of $54.05.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.10) by $0.14. Olin had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Olin will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 156.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olin

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 12,191,163 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $295,514,000 after buying an additional 1,259,795 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Olin by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,748,584 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $284,786,000 after purchasing an additional 245,604 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Olin by 40.5% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,384,744 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $154,766,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,900 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Olin by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,546,352 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $110,204,000 after purchasing an additional 569,483 shares during the period. Finally, Yacktman Asset Management LP grew its stake in shares of Olin by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP now owns 4,020,243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $97,451,000 after purchasing an additional 122,247 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.