California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,745 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 30,886 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.16% of Olin worth $6,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Olin by 246.8% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Olin in the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Olin by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Olin by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Olin during the fourth quarter valued at about $153,000. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on OLN shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Olin from $34.00 to $21.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Olin from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Olin from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.44.

Remove Ads

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 7,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OLN traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $20.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,495,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,522,099. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.71 and a beta of 1.50. Olin Co. has a 12-month low of $17.66 and a 12-month high of $57.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Olin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.89%.

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.