Deutsche Bank AG Acquires 6,719 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 51.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,766 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,719 shares during the quarter. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.09% of Stepan worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its position in Stepan by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 6,606 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Stepan by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 12,865 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $832,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Stepan by 781.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 617 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Stepan by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,650 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stepan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, May 25th.

Stepan Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE SCL traded down $0.37 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.76. 2,247 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 122,898. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 24.77 and a beta of 1.00. Stepan has a 12-month low of $44.23 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $593.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.77 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company's revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Stepan's payout ratio is 62.60%.

Stepan 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.