Short Interest in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Declines By 20.3%

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, a drop of 20.3% from the March 15th total of 5,210,000 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Olin Stock Performance

Shares of Olin stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, hitting $20.93. 1,307,182 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,534,624. Olin has a 1 year low of $17.66 and a 1 year high of $57.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.26 and a beta of 1.50.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share 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, analysts forecast that Olin will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio is 88.89%.

Insider Transactions at Olin

In related news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $203,435. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Olin

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Olin by 160.5% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,206 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Olin by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Olin by 246.8% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,616 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Olin by 183.8% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,645 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,713 shares during the period. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Olin during the fourth quarter valued at $66,000. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Olin from $25.00 to $19.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho set a $23.00 price objective on Olin in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Olin from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $32.00 to $25.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Olin currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.25.

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.