Olin Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 (NYSE:OLN)

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th.

Olin has a dividend payout ratio of 27.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Olin to earn $3.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.5%.

Olin Stock Down 2.4 %

Olin stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 800,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,774,088. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.27. Olin has a 12 month low of $26.48 and a 12 month high of $60.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.31. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.01) by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Olin will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, December 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 45% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OLN. Bank of America upgraded Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Olin from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered 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. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Olin from $44.00 to $34.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Olin from $40.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Olin has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane bought 7,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.06 per share, with a total value of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,435. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.