Yacktman Asset Management LP Decreases Stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Yacktman Asset Management LP lowered its holdings in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,261,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 34,987 shares during the quarter. Olin comprises 2.1% of Yacktman Asset Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in Olin were worth $229,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its position in Olin by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 2,940,658 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $146,974,000 after acquiring an additional 397,050 shares during the last quarter. Luminus Management LLC raised its stake in Olin by 119.6% in the 3rd quarter. Luminus Management LLC now owns 524,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,227,000 after acquiring an additional 285,789 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Olin by 21.2% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,179,543 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,954,000 after purchasing an additional 206,398 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Olin by 139.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 259,923 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,947,000 after acquiring an additional 151,342 shares during the period. Finally, Rovida Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Olin in the third quarter valued at $4,998,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Olin

In related news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 48,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total transaction of $2,561,661.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,732,231.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Scott Mcdougald Sutton sold 48,896 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.39, for a total value of $2,561,661.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,327 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,732,231.53. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Valerie A. Peters sold 71,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.52, for a total transaction of $3,770,936.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,511.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 753,274 shares of company stock valued at $40,434,124 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on OLN. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Olin from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Olin from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Olin from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Olin from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Olin from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.33.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OLN traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $53.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,389,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,020,483. Olin Co. has a 52 week low of $41.71 and a 52 week high of $60.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.44.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.04. Olin had a net margin of 6.74% and a return on equity of 18.44%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. Olin’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Olin Co. will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Olin’s payout ratio is 22.60%.

Olin 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.