Short Interest in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Drops By 14.5%

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) saw a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, a decline of 14.5% from the March 31st total of 2,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Olin Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE OLN opened at $53.48 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44. Olin has a 52-week low of $41.71 and a 52-week high of $60.60.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Olin had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.16 EPS. Analysts expect that Olin will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on OLN. Citigroup increased their target price on Olin from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Olin from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Olin from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Olin from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Olin from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Olin

In other Olin news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 539,328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.96, for a total value of $29,102,138.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,620 shares in the company, valued at $2,569,575.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 539,328 shares of Olin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.96, for a total transaction of $29,102,138.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 47,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,569,575.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Valerie A. Peters sold 71,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total transaction of $3,770,936.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,469 shares in the company, valued at $1,022,511.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 753,274 shares of company stock valued at $40,434,124. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 3.3% in the first quarter. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 32,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management lifted its stake in Olin by 22.8% in the 1st quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 3,114 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Olin by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 34,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,034,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Olin by 30.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 858 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Olin by 2.6% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 156,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,197,000 after purchasing an additional 3,906 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.67% 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.