Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Trims Position in Stepan Company $SCL

Key Points

• Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reduced its stake in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 16.5% during the first quarter, holding approximately 0.52% of the company valued at $6.4 million.
• Several large investors, including BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank, significantly increased their holdings in Stepan during the fourth quarter, indicating shifting investor interest.
• Stepan reported disappointing earnings for the last quarter, missing consensus estimates with an EPS of $0.52 and revenue of $594.69 million.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 16.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,544 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 23,077 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned approximately 0.52% of Stepan worth $6,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCL. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 82.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,997 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 51.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 19,766 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,279,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stepan during the 4th quarter worth $1,403,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,146 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 110,242 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,133,000 after purchasing an additional 7,861 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SCL. Zacks Research lowered Stepan from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Sell".

Stepan Trading Down 2.8%

NYSE:SCL opened at $48.12 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average is $52.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Stepan Company has a 12 month low of $44.23 and a 12 month high of $82.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.97.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.40). Stepan had a net margin of 2.57% and a return on equity of 4.78%. The company had revenue of $594.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $598.25 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Stepan Company will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Stepan's payout ratio is presently 60.63%.

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.

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