Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Boosts Stock Holdings in Olin Corporation $OLN

Key Points

• Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Olin Corporation by 9.9%, acquiring an additional 11,400 shares during the 1st quarter, bringing its total holdings to 126,400 shares valued at approximately $3.06 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Jump Financial LLC and Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC, also increased their positions in Olin, indicating strong interest in the stock among major players.
• Olin recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing a 3.5% yield, despite a negative net margin and missing its earnings estimates for the last quarter.

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN - Free Report) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 126,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,400 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 0.11% of Olin worth $3,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Olin by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,126,237 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $38,067,000 after buying an additional 159,667 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Olin by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 844,992 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,459,000 after acquiring an additional 40,342 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Olin in the fourth quarter worth $1,305,000. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of Olin by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 73,130 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 6,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Olin during the fourth quarter worth $361,000. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Olin Stock Performance

NYSE:OLN traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $23.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,714,787 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,406,160. Olin Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $17.66 and a fifty-two week high of $49.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -197.23 and a beta of 1.61. The firm's 50 day moving average is $20.96 and its 200-day moving average is $21.86.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.68 billion. Olin had a negative net margin of 0.21% and a negative return on equity of 0.13%. The firm's revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Olin Corporation will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 28th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Olin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -666.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on OLN shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Olin from $33.00 to $25.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on Olin from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Olin from $28.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Olin from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Olin from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Olin presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Olin

In other news, VP Teresa M. Vermillion sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.11, for a total value of $126,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 17,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $363,070.89. The trade was a 25.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.