Legato Capital Management LLC Has $511,000 Stake in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL)

Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 76.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,024 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Stepan were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Stepan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,545,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 638,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,311,000 after buying an additional 108,556 shares during the period. Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Stepan by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 383,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,824,000 after buying an additional 74,238 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 921,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,634,000 after buying an additional 60,985 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 451,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,188,000 after buying an additional 54,943 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stepan Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE SCL opened at $57.00 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.71. Stepan Company has a fifty-two week low of $44.23 and a fifty-two week high of $91.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.17 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 2.53% and a return on equity of 4.61%. The business had revenue of $593.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Stepan’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Stepan Company will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th.

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.