Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Buys 108,556 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 20.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund 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. owned 2.84% of Stepan worth $41,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SCL. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Stepan by 110.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Stepan by 781.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 617 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Stepan by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Stepan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,000. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its position in Stepan by 24.5% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,254 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 837 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Stepan Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Stepan stock traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $53.79. The company had a trading volume of 102,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 119,394. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.96. Stepan has a fifty-two week low of $44.23 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.33. Stepan had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. The firm had revenue of $593.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $63.53 per share, with a total value of $31,765.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at $120,452.88. The trade was a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday.

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.