Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases Shares of 32,371 Olin Corporation $OLN

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 32,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amundi lifted its position in Olin by 337.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 684,036 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $20,336,000 after purchasing an additional 527,586 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Olin by 1,946.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 435,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,950,000 after buying an additional 414,309 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Olin by 22.4% in 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 last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Olin by 132.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 169,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,036,000 after buying an additional 96,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Olin by 17.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on OLN. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $20.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Olin in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Olin from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Olin from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered Olin from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $22.62.

Olin Stock Performance

NYSE OLN opened at $17.46 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.61. Olin Corporation has a 12-month low of $16.73 and a 12-month high of $30.46. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.20 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.01) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Olin Corporation will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 27th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 27th. Olin’s payout ratio is -65.04%.

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.