Fruth Investment Management Sells 2,100 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Fruth Investment Management lowered its stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 73,795 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the period. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Olin were worth $2,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ARGA Investment Management LP grew its position in shares of Olin by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 59,813 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,022,000 after buying an additional 19,175 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 246.8% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Olin in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Mariner Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Olin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $355,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Olin by 82.9% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,461 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 2,476 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Olin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OLN opened at $26.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.45. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.92 and its 200-day moving average is $40.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Olin Co. has a 1-year low of $26.48 and a 1-year high of $60.60.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 predict that Olin Co. will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on OLN. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Olin from $43.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded 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 report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Olin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.94.

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.