Olin (NYSE:OLN) Hits New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low on Friday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $31.00 to $28.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Olin traded as low as $29.20 and last traded at $29.13, with a volume of 443895 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.14.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on OLN. Barclays cut their price target on Olin from $43.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised shares of Olin from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Olin from $40.00 to $31.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Olin has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $41.75.

Insider Activity at Olin

In other news, VP R Nichole Sumner sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.75, for a total transaction of $459,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,056 shares in the company, valued at $1,052,450. The trade was a 30.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Olin by 24.8% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,452,708 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $165,661,000 after purchasing an additional 685,710 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 531,330 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Olin by 70.9% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 544,814 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,140,000 after buying an additional 225,930 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Olin by 19.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $51,015,000 after buying an additional 172,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its stake in Olin by 504.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 167,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,022,000 after purchasing an additional 139,549 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company's stock.

Olin Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.52 and a 200-day moving average of $41.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.66% and a return on equity of 5.10%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Olin Co. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

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

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.