EntryPoint Capital LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

EntryPoint Capital LLC reduced its position in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 30.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,102 shares during the quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC’s holdings in Olin were worth $237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of OLN. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Olin by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,709,611 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $125,385,000 after acquiring an additional 256,903 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Olin by 5,746.2% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,613,796 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,546,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586,192 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Olin by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,353,907 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,762,000 after acquiring an additional 58,208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Olin by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,305,521 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,127,000 after purchasing an additional 97,980 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on OLN shares. Bank of America upgraded Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $41.00 to $33.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Olin in a report on Monday, February 3rd. KeyCorp reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.44.

Olin Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:OLN opened at $24.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27 and a beta of 1.61. Olin Co. has a 52-week low of $22.98 and a 52-week high of $60.60. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.16. 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) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is presently 88.89%.

Olin declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 45% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,435. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Olin Profile

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.