BMO Capital Markets Has Lowered Expectations for Olin (NYSE:OLN) Stock Price

Olin (NYSE:OLN) had its price target lowered by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $44.00 to $34.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 24.25% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on OLN. Bank of America upgraded shares of Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $40.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Olin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.94.

Olin Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Olin stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.37. 244,214 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,606,915. 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 1-year low of $27.15 and a 1-year high of $60.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.45.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Olin will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity at Olin

In related news, VP R Nichole Sumner sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.75, for a total transaction of $459,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 24,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,052,450. This represents a 30.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olin

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Olin by 6.4% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 8,838,988 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $424,095,000 after buying an additional 531,330 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Olin by 24.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Olin by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,305,521 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,127,000 after purchasing an additional 97,980 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Olin by 2.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,295,699 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,168,000 after purchasing an additional 37,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Olin by 19.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,073,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,015,000 after purchasing an additional 172,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

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.