Olin (NYSE:OLN) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $56.00 to $60.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Olin traded as high as $59.97 and last traded at $59.54, with a volume of 170961 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.33.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp increased their price target on Olin from $61.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Olin from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Olin from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Olin in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. They set a "hold" rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Olin from $49.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $56.93.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Todd A. Slater sold 63,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.15, for a total transaction of $3,424,987.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 137,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,446,545.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Todd A. Slater sold 63,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.15, for a total transaction of $3,424,987.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 137,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,446,545.55. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 15,000 shares of Olin stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total value of $787,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 75,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,954,667.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 753,274 shares of company stock worth $40,434,124. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Olin

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Olin by 0.5% during the first quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 38,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,224,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,285 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,957,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 6,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,389 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $884,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,714 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company's stock.

Olin Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $54.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.75. The company has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.44.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 6.74%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Olin Co. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Olin's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

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.