Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Shares in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 34,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,856,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Baystate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Olin by 154.6% in the third quarter. Baystate Wealth Management LLC now owns 494 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Olin during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Olin by 76.7% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 659 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank grew its holdings in shares of Olin by 145.6% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 614 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Olin by 508.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OLN shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Olin from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Olin from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Olin from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Olin from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Olin from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Olin currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $59.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Valerie A. Peters sold 71,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total transaction of $3,770,936.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,022,511.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Olin news, VP Valerie A. Peters sold 71,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total transaction of $3,770,936.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,022,511.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total transaction of $787,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 75,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,954,667.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 753,274 shares of company stock valued at $40,434,124 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Olin Price Performance

Shares of Olin stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $53.58. The stock had a trading volume of 688,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,028,066. The stock's 50 day moving average is $55.48 and its 200 day moving average is $51.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.14, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. Olin Co. has a twelve month low of $41.71 and a twelve month high of $60.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.10. Olin had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 18.44%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Equities analysts expect that Olin Co. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Olin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.