South Dakota Investment Council Has $3.26 Million Position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

South Dakota Investment Council lifted its stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Free Report) by 279.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 60,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 44,492 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Olin were worth $3,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baystate Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in shares of Olin by 145.6% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 614 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Olin by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 659 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Motco acquired a new stake in shares of Olin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Olin during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Olin

In other news, CFO Todd A. Slater sold 63,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.15, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Valerie A. Peters sold 71,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total transaction of $3,770,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,469 shares in the company, valued at $1,022,511.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Slater sold 63,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.15, for a total value of $3,424,987.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 137,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,446,545.55. 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Olin Price Performance

Shares of OLN traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $52.81. 996,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,016,435. The company has a market capitalization of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.58. Olin Co. has a one year low of $41.71 and a one year high of $60.60.

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

Olin Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Olin's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OLN has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Olin from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Olin from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group raised their target price on Olin from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Olin from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Olin from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.33.

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.