Olin (NYSE:OLN) Upgraded by Bank of America to Buy Rating

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a $40.00 price objective on the specialty chemicals company's stock, down from their previous price objective of $48.00. Bank of America's price objective suggests a potential upside of 22.29% from the company's current price.

OLN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Olin from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Olin from $48.00 to $44.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Olin from $41.00 to $31.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.07.

Olin Stock Up 3.2 %

OLN traded up $1.00 on Tuesday, reaching $32.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,680,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,580,073. Olin has a 1 year low of $30.69 and a 1 year high of $60.60. The business's 50 day moving average is $38.00 and its 200 day moving average is $42.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.48.

Olin declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 12th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 45% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Olin

In other news, VP R Nichole Sumner sold 10,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.75, for a total value of $459,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 24,056 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,052,450. This represents a 30.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OLN. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Olin by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,452,708 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $165,661,000 after purchasing an additional 685,710 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 6.4% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $424,095,000 after buying an additional 531,330 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Olin by 429.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 610,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,769,000 after buying an additional 494,976 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Olin by 70.9% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 544,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,140,000 after acquiring an additional 225,930 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Olin by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,741,007 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $176,396,000 after acquiring an additional 194,755 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company's stock.

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.