Olin (NYSE:OLN) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $17.00 and last traded at $17.1340, with a volume of 522530 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OLN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded Olin from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Olin in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Olin from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Olin from $23.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Olin from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $22.62.

Olin Stock Down 0.5%

The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.88 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $20.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.06.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.12) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by ($0.25). Olin had a negative return on equity of 4.76% and a negative net margin of 2.08%.The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.01) EPS. Olin’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Olin Corporation will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 27th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -65.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olin

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of OLN. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Olin by 5.5% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 12,690,488 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $317,135,000 after purchasing an additional 661,730 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Olin by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,627,997 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $167,311,000 after buying an additional 1,031,498 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Olin by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,830,406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $97,043,000 after buying an additional 50,309 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Olin by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,507,913 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $93,900,000 after buying an additional 671,250 shares during the period. Finally, Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its stake in shares of Olin by 448.9% in the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 3,804,561 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $79,249,000 after buying an additional 3,111,393 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

About Olin

Olin Corporation is a diversified manufacturer specializing in chemical products and ammunition. The company’s core business activities encompass the production and distribution of chlor-alkali products, epoxy resins and derivatives, and small-caliber ammunition under the Winchester brand. Olin’s chemical operations supply chlorine, caustic soda and related co-products to a wide range of end markets, including water treatment, pulp and paper, pharmaceuticals and general industrial applications.

In its Chlor Alkali Products & Vinyls segment, Olin operates multiple manufacturing facilities that produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide, along with vinyl chloride monomer and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds.