Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) Short Interest Update

Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,300,000 shares, a growth of 15.4% from the August 15th total of 2,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Olin in the 4th quarter worth about $76,125,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Olin by 218.6% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,649,273 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $88,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,131,674 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Olin by 429.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 610,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,769,000 after buying an additional 494,976 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Olin by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,414,265 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $317,897,000 after buying an additional 384,888 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Olin by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 663,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,780,000 after acquiring an additional 267,460 shares during the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on OLN shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Olin from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Olin in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Olin from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America downgraded Olin from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $62.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Olin from $57.00 to $48.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $52.73.

Olin Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE OLN traded up $0.42 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.51. 955,944 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,105,132. The stock has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.41. Olin has a 1 year low of $39.47 and a 1 year high of $60.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $44.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.28.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.71 billion. Olin had a net margin of 4.26% and a return on equity of 11.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Olin will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. Olin’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.78%.

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.