That basic sector includes thirteen industries all related to mining, making and delivering essential commodities. The industries are: agricultural inputs; aluminum; building materials; chemicals; coal; copper; industrial metals and minerals; paper; silver; specialty chemicals; steel.

Today I'm reviewing a mid-cap specialty chemicals company.

The company's name is Olin Corporation It's trading ticker symbol is OLN .  

Olin Corp manufactures and sells chlor alkali products. It is engaged in three segments Chlor Alkali Products, Epoxy, and Winchester.

The Chlor Alkali Products and Vinyls segment offer chlorine and caustic soda, ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomers, methyl chloride, methylene chloride, chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, perchloroethylene, trichloroethylene and vinylidene chloride, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen, bleach products, and potassium hydroxide.

The Epoxy segment provides plastic materials for use in water purification, and pesticides, and polymers;  adhesives, paints and coatings, composites, and flooring; and differentiated epoxy resins, as well as other additives.

The Winchester segment offers sporting ammunition products, for hunters and recreational shooters, and law enforcement agencies; small caliber military ammunition products for use in infantry and mounted weapons; and industrial products comprising gauge loads and powder-actuated tool loads for maintenance applications in power, concrete, and construction industries. 

The company markets its products through its sales force, as well as directly to various industrial customers, mass merchants, retailers, wholesalers, other distributors, and the U.S. Government and its prime contractors.

Olin Corporation was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Clayton, Missouri.

I use three key data points gauge the value of any dividend equity or fund like Olin Corporation: 

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

After those three, four more keys will finally unlock an equity or fund in which to invest. 

No matter what, it's the first three primary traits that best tell whether a company has made, is making, and will make money. 

OLN Price

Olin's price was $32.41 per share at yesterday's market close. A year ago its price was $29.12 for a gain of $3.29 per share in the past year.  

Assuming Olin's price will continue to trade in the range of $25.00 to $40.00 next year, its price could grow another $3.29 from $32.41 to $35.70 by June 6, 2019. 

OLN Dividends

Olin's most recently declared quarterly dividend was $0.20 per share payable in June.  That $0.20 quarterly dividend equates to an estimated annual payout of $0.80 for 2018 which yields 2.46% at yesterday's $32.41 closing stock price.  

Gains For OLN?

The $3.29 estimated year over year price gain plus an anticipated dividend of  $0.80 makes a projected gross annual gain of $4.09 per share, which will be reduced by the costs to trade those shares.  

$1,000.00 invested today at the $32.41 price buys 31 shares. 

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale subtracts $0.32 per share.

Taking that $0.32 brokerage cost out of the estimated $4.09 gross gain per share leaves a net gain of $3.77 X 31 shares 

= $116.87

or a 11.6% potential net gain on a $1,004.71 investment.

Therefore, Olin Corporation (whose ticker symbol is OLN), now shows a possible 11.6% net gain including a 2.46% dividend yield. 

Fourteen analysts cover this stock:

Six say "buy" OLN

Three say OLN will "outperform."

Five say "hold" the stock.

The median analyst recommendation is 1.93 or "Outperform" and their median price target is $3 above the estimated year over year number I just calculated.

Y Charts rates OLN "attractive" for an overall "Y" rating. Y Charts also shows Good" for a Value score of 9 out of ten points. And YCharts ranks OLN "strong" with 9 out of 10  possible Fundamental points. Y Charts Historic Valuation score is 49.78% undervalued, based on a $64.53 historic value multiple.

You could look at all those numbers like this: Olin Corporation has made money, is making money, and could net a 11.6% to 16.6 % net gain next year including a 2.37% dividend yield. It could be more, it could be less.

The above speculation is conjecture based on past year performance. Actual results remain to be seen.  They could turn out to be far higher or lower. More study is required for you to determine if Olin Corporation is worth your time and money.