Traders Buy High Volume of Olin Call Options (NYSE:OLN)

Key Points

• Traders purchased 4,140 call options on Olin on Friday — about 50% above the stock's average daily call volume — indicating unusually high bullish options activity.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently, including the VP and CFO, with insiders disposing of 99,379 shares (~$2.24M) in the past three months while insiders still hold just 1.6% of the stock.
• Analysts are mixed: MarketBeat shows an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.73, which is below Olin's recent share price of roughly $28.60.

Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 4,140 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 50% compared to the average volume of 2,753 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OLN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Olin from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. UBS Group set a $21.00 price target on Olin in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Olin from $21.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Olin from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $23.73.

Insider Activity at Olin

In other Olin news, VP Angela M. Castle sold 2,379 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.25, for a total value of $57,690.75. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 1,528 shares in the company, valued at $37,054. This represents a 60.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Todd A. Slater sold 92,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total value of $2,073,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,661.68. The trade was a 67.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 99,379 shares of company stock worth $2,238,298. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Olin

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Olin in the 3rd quarter worth $726,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Olin by 6.9% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,639,624 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $40,974,000 after buying an additional 105,484 shares during the period. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Olin during the second quarter valued at $989,000. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Olin in the third quarter valued at about $5,761,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Olin by 5,469.7% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 588,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,819,000 after acquiring an additional 577,760 shares in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Olin Stock Performance

OLN traded up $0.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.60. The company had a trading volume of 1,352,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,278,491. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.02. The company has a market cap of $3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.20 and a beta of 1.56. Olin has a 1 year low of $17.66 and a 1 year high of $29.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.58). Olin had a negative net margin of 0.63% and a negative return on equity of 0.48%. The company had revenue of $1.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.09 EPS. Olin's quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Olin will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. Olin's dividend payout ratio is -210.53%.

Olin Company Profile

Olin Corporation is a diversified manufacturer specializing in chemical products and ammunition. The company's core business activities encompass the production and distribution of chlor-alkali products, epoxy resins and derivatives, and small-caliber ammunition under the Winchester brand. Olin's chemical operations supply chlorine, caustic soda and related co-products to a wide range of end markets, including water treatment, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals and general industrial applications.

In its Chlor Alkali Products & Vinyls segment, Olin operates multiple manufacturing facilities that produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide, along with vinyl chloride monomer and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds.

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