Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Stepan Company $SCL

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. has increased its holdings in Stepan Company by 10.6%, now owning approximately 109,339 shares valued at $6.02 million as of the end of the most recent quarter.
• Recent analysts' recommendations have downgraded Stepan's stock, with ratings shifting from "buy" to "hold" and "strong sell," contributing to an overall average rating of "sell."
• Stepan Company has reported disappointing quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.52, missing estimates by $0.40, and will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.385 per share on September 15th.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 109,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 10,464 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.48% of Stepan worth $6,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 11,484.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,365 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 14,241 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 2.7% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 105,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,731 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stepan during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,403,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 60.8% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,773 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 5.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 426,421 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $23,470,000 after acquiring an additional 23,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Stepan from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Sell".

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCL traded down $1.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.12. 82,561 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 188,652. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.97. Stepan Company has a twelve month low of $44.23 and a twelve month high of $82.08. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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

Stepan Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.