ARS Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

ARS Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 54.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 77,133 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 91,790 shares during the period. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Olin were worth $2,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Olin by 55.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 143,062 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,835,000 after acquiring an additional 51,051 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Olin in the third quarter worth $916,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Olin by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,295,699 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,168,000 after acquiring an additional 37,043 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Olin in the second quarter worth $2,350,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Olin by 846.7% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 12,700 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Olin Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE OLN opened at $33.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.98. Olin Co. has a 52-week low of $30.69 and a 52-week high of $60.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.52%.

Olin declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on OLN shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Olin from $51.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America raised Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Olin from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Olin from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Olin presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.07.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP R Nichole Sumner sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.75, for a total value of $459,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 24,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,052,450. This represents a 30.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.80% 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.