Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, a decrease of 20.3% from the March 15th total of 5,210,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on OLN. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Olin from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Olin from $34.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Olin from $33.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Olin from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Olin from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $33.25.

Olin Trading Up 5.4 %

Olin stock traded up $1.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $22.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,412,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,062. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.91. 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 has a 12 month low of $17.66 and a 12 month high of $57.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.72 and a beta of 1.50.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Olin will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin's payout ratio is 88.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 7,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olin

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of OLN. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Olin by 160.5% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,206 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Olin in the first quarter worth $31,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Olin by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Olin by 246.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Olin in the 4th quarter worth $66,000. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.