Virtu Financial LLC Invests $372,000 in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 11,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OLN. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Olin by 246.8% in the fourth 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. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Olin by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,431 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 911 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Olin by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Olin during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Olin by 82.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,476 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of OLN opened at $24.76 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.51 and a beta of 1.61. Olin Co. has a one year low of $22.98 and a one year high of $60.60.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Olin Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is currently 88.89%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was 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 $203,435. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on OLN. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Olin from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $50.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Olin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.38.

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.