Trexquant Investment LP Sells 64,156 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Trexquant Investment LP cut its stake in Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 38.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 64,156 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Olin were worth $3,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in Olin by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 5,833 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $197,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Olin by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 6,207 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Olin by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Olin by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 4,998 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Olin by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Trading Down 8.9 %

Shares of OLN stock opened at $20.09 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $19.16 and a 12-month high of $59.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.27 and its 200 day moving average is $35.39.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.01) by $0.10. Olin had a return on equity of 5.10% and a net margin of 1.66%. Research analysts expect that Olin Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Olin’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

Olin announced that its board has initiated 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 buy up to 45% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on OLN. UBS Group set a $28.00 price objective on Olin in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $31.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America raised shares of Olin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $48.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada cut Olin from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Olin from $50.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Olin presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.69.

Insider Activity at Olin

In other Olin news, CEO Kenneth Todd Lane purchased 7,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.