Short Interest in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Decreases By 14.5%

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) was the target of a large decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, a decline of 14.5% from the March 31st total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Olin news, VP Brett A. Flaugher sold 15,000 shares of Olin stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.46, for a total value of $786,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,782 shares in the company, valued at approximately $460,703.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Olin 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 directly 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,782 shares in the company, valued at $460,703.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 78,896 shares of company stock worth $4,136,061 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Olin by 30.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 858 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Olin by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 34,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in Olin by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 16,389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in Olin by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 5,086 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Olin by 76.7% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE OLN opened at $52.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.44. Olin 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $55.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.73.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.02. Olin had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. Olin’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Olin will post 3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Olin’s payout ratio is presently 28.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Olin from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Olin from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Olin from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Olin from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Olin from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.00.

Olin Company 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.