Yacktman Asset Management LP Reduces Holdings in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Yacktman Asset Management LP reduced its position in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,261,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 34,987 shares during the quarter. Olin comprises about 2.1% of Yacktman Asset Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Yacktman Asset Management LP owned approximately 3.48% of Olin worth $229,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OLN. South Dakota Investment Council raised its stake in shares of Olin by 279.8% in the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 60,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,258,000 after purchasing an additional 44,492 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its stake in shares of Olin by 153.2% in the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 24,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 14,928 shares during the last quarter. Coombe Bender & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Olin by 20.8% in the third quarter. Coombe Bender & Co LLC now owns 90,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $4,547,000 after purchasing an additional 15,645 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorShares Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Olin in the third quarter worth approximately $361,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Olin in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,613,000. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OLN traded up $0.66 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $53.48. The company had a trading volume of 2,022,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,028,850. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. Olin Co. has a 1 year low of $41.71 and a 1 year 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. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $55.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.63.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. Olin had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 6.74%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Olin Co. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Olin's dividend payout ratio is 22.60%.

Insider Activity at Olin

In related news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 539,328 shares of Olin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.96, for a total transaction of $29,102,138.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,569,575.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 539,328 shares of Olin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.96, for a total transaction of $29,102,138.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,569,575.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Todd A. Slater sold 63,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 137,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,446,545.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 753,274 shares of company stock valued at $40,434,124. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on OLN. UBS Group increased their price objective on Olin from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Olin from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on Olin from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Olin from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Olin from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $59.33.

About Olin

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.