Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Short Interest Update

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, a drop of 20.3% from the March 15th total of 5,210,000 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,960,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on OLN shares. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Olin from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Olin from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $50.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Olin from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Olin from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Olin has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.25.

Insider Activity at Olin

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olin

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Olin by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Olin by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 5,833 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Olin by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 6,207 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Olin by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Olin by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company's stock.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OLN traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 462,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,542,841. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.27. Olin has a 1-year low of $17.66 and a 1-year high of $57.10. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $23.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.73. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35 and a beta of 1.50.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Olin will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin's dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

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.