Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Short Interest Up 24.4% in February

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,940,000 shares, a growth of 24.4% from the January 31st total of 3,970,000 shares. Currently, 4.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insider Activity

In other Olin news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of Olin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at $203,435. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Olin

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OLN. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Olin by 88.2% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Olin by 357.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 915 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Olin in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in Olin by 246.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Olin in the 4th quarter worth approximately $66,000. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OLN has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Olin from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Olin from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Olin presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.38.

Olin Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE OLN traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.43. 3,427,783 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,861,959. Olin has a 12 month low of $22.98 and a 12 month high of $60.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14 and a beta of 1.61.

Olin (NYSE:OLN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts predict that Olin will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. Olin's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.89%.

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.