Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) to Issue $0.20 Quarterly Dividend

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given 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 yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th.

Olin has a dividend payout ratio of 27.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 %

NYSE:OLN traded down $0.67 on Friday, hitting $26.89. 800,492 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,774,088. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32. Olin has a 1 year low of $26.48 and a 1 year high of $60.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.31. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 29.88 and a beta of 1.45.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Olin will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Olin from $48.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Barclays reduced their price objective on Olin from $43.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Olin from $35.00 to $34.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Olin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.44.

Olin announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the specialty chemicals company to repurchase up to 45% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Olin news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $28.06 per share, for a total transaction of $203,435.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $203,435. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.