Olin (NYSE:OLN) Price Target Lowered to $34.00 at Barclays

Olin (NYSE:OLN) had its target price cut by analysts at Barclays from $43.00 to $34.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target points to a potential upside of 21.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also commented on OLN. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Olin from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Olin from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Bank of America upgraded Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Olin from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Olin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.06.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OLN traded down $1.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,406,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,559,257. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Olin has a 12 month low of $27.15 and a 12 month high of $60.60.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Olin will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Olin

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $424,095,000 after acquiring an additional 531,330 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Olin by 24.8% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 3,452,708 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $165,661,000 after purchasing an additional 685,710 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Olin by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,295,699 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,168,000 after purchasing an additional 37,043 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Olin by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,015,000 after purchasing an additional 172,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,061,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $50,907,000 after buying an additional 25,163 shares during the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.