Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Shares Bought by Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 638,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,556 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Stepan were worth $41,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SCL. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Stepan by 177.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,460,000 after purchasing an additional 28,655 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,031,000 after buying an additional 23,626 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Stepan by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Stepan by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 62,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Stepan by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $402,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st.

Stepan Stock Performance

SCL opened at $53.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Stepan has a twelve month low of $44.23 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.28.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.33. Stepan had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. The company had revenue of $593.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Stepan’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Stepan’s payout ratio is 62.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stepan

In related news, Director Susan Lewis purchased 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were bought at an average price of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at $120,452.88. This trade represents a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.