Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Lifted to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

Stepan Stock Up 0.5 %

SCL stock opened at $90.09 on Tuesday. Stepan has a twelve month low of $63.60 and a twelve month high of $104.43. The company has a market cap of $2.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.48 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.04). Stepan had a net margin of 1.73% and a return on equity of 4.20%. The company had revenue of $532.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $534.48 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Stepan’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Stepan’s payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.43, for a total value of $174,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 250,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,916,602.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Stepan news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 3,637 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.11, for a total transaction of $327,730.07. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 255,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,029,142.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.43, for a total transaction of $174,860.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 250,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,916,602.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,637 shares of company stock worth $957,940 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Stepan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCL. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Stepan by 5,436.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 516,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,854,000 after purchasing an additional 507,371 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Stepan by 172.9% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 410,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,688,000 after acquiring an additional 260,016 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Stepan by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,951,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $197,828,000 after acquiring an additional 221,795 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Stepan in the 4th quarter worth about $22,622,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,165,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,317,000 after buying an additional 162,560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Company Profile

Stepan Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells specialty and intermediate chemicals to other manufacturers for use in various end products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Surfactants, Polymers, and Specialty Products. The Surfactants segment offers surfactants that are used in consumer and industrial cleaning and disinfection products, including detergents for washing clothes, dishes, carpets, and floors and walls, as well as shampoos and body washes; and other applications, such as fabric softeners, germicidal quaternary compounds, disinfectants, and lubricating ingredients.