Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 9,703 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 37.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 9,703 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Olin were worth $1,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of OLN. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,940,658 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $146,974,000 after purchasing an additional 397,050 shares during the period. Luminus Management LLC increased its holdings in Olin by 119.6% during the 3rd quarter. Luminus Management LLC now owns 524,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,227,000 after purchasing an additional 285,789 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Olin by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,179,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,954,000 after purchasing an additional 206,398 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Olin by 139.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 259,923 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,947,000 after purchasing an additional 151,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rovida Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Olin during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,998,000. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Olin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OLN opened at $52.81 on Friday. Olin Co. has a twelve month low of $41.71 and a twelve month high of $60.60. The company has a market cap of $6.32 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $55.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 18.44% and a net margin of 6.74%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. On average, analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Olin from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp increased their target price on Olin from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. Barclays lifted their target price on Olin from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Olin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.33.

Insider Transactions at Olin

In related news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total value of $787,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 75,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,954,667.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.50, for a total value of $787,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 75,327 shares in the company, valued at $3,954,667.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Valerie A. Peters sold 71,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total value of $3,770,936.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 19,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,022,511.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 753,274 shares of company stock worth $40,434,124 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Olin 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.