Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 668 Shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Olin Co. (NYSE:OLN) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 105,198 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 668 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Olin were worth $6,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Olin by 122.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,029,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $271,152,000 after acquiring an additional 2,772,274 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council boosted its holdings in Olin by 279.8% in the 4th quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 60,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,258,000 after purchasing an additional 44,492 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Olin by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 188,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 48,625 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Olin by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,635,983 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $196,167,000 after purchasing an additional 126,587 shares during the period. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Olin during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,350,000. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

Olin Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OLN traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.75. The stock had a trading volume of 54,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,041,820. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Olin Co. has a 52 week low of $41.71 and a 52 week high of $60.60. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $51.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.14.

Olin (NYSE:OLN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. Olin had a net margin of 5.32% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Olin Co. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Olin Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 9th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. Olin’s payout ratio is 28.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Olin from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Olin from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Barclays raised their target price on Olin from $57.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Olin from $74.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Olin from $69.00 to $63.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Olin currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.27.

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.