Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Purchases 8,521 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 8,521 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.05% of Olin worth $1,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Olin by 88.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Olin by 357.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 915 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Olin during the third quarter worth $47,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Olin by 26.2% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Olin by 4,862.5% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,588 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP R Nichole Sumner sold 10,500 shares of Olin stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 30.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on OLN. Bank of America raised Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Olin from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $56.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.07.

Olin Price Performance

OLN stock opened at $33.78 on Tuesday. Olin Co. has a 12 month low of $30.69 and a 12 month high of $60.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.19 and a 200-day moving average of $41.98.

Olin declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the specialty chemicals company to reacquire up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.52%.

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.