Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Stake Reduced by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Free Report) by 26.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,057 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 27,649 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.06% of Olin worth $4,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in Olin by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 35,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,912,000 after purchasing an additional 9,703 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Olin by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 24,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,319,000 after buying an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN purchased a new stake in Olin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $361,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Olin by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 22,067 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 2,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergawealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Olin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company's stock.

Olin Price Performance

OLN stock traded up $1.05 during trading on Monday, hitting $54.68. 759,010 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,034,366. Olin Co. has a 52 week low of $41.71 and a 52 week high of $60.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 1.48.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. Olin had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. Olin's quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Olin Co. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Olin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on OLN shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Olin from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Olin from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Olin from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Olin from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Olin from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Olin presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Insider Transactions at Olin

In related news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 48,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total value of $2,561,661.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,732,231.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Olin news, VP Brett A. Flaugher sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.46, for a total transaction of $786,900.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,782 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $460,703.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 48,896 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total transaction of $2,561,661.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,732,231.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 78,896 shares of company stock worth $4,136,061. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.