Seaport Res Ptn Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for Stepan

Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) – Seaport Res Ptn lifted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Stepan in a research report issued on Tuesday, November 11th. Seaport Res Ptn analyst M. Harrison now forecasts that the basic materials company will earn $2.20 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.14. The consensus estimate for Stepan’s current full-year earnings is $3.55 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Stepan from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research raised Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Stepan Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of SCL opened at $44.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $51.38. Stepan has a one year low of $41.82 and a one year high of $79.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $590.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.65 million. Stepan had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 3.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCL. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Stepan by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,252,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,960,000 after purchasing an additional 331,210 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter worth $5,573,000. UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 338.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 125,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,963,000 after purchasing an additional 96,526 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Stepan by 6.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,599,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $76,276,000 after purchasing an additional 91,746 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Stepan in the 1st quarter valued at about $4,971,000. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a $0.395 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Stepan’s payout ratio is 79.80%.

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.