Aristides Capital LLC Makes New Investment in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 7,745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in Olin by 246.8% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Olin in the 4th quarter worth $66,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Olin by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Olin in the fourth quarter worth about $127,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $38.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on Olin from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane acquired 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OLN opened at $20.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 1.50. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.39. Olin Co. has a 1 year low of $19.16 and a 1 year high of $59.31.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

Olin declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 repurchase up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Olin Company 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.