Rhumbline Advisers Has $3.62 Million Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Rhumbline Advisers reduced its stake in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 65,773 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,451 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.29% of Stepan worth $3,620,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,874 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,803,000 after buying an additional 2,372 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 102,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,844 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Stepan by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 62,149 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,021,000 after purchasing an additional 18,522 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its stake in Stepan by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 11,187 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 3,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Stepan by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 321,396 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,794,000 after purchasing an additional 23,855 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stepan Price Performance

NYSE SCL opened at $54.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.64 and a beta of 1.02. Stepan has a 12-month low of $44.23 and a 12-month high of $94.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.40.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $562.77 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. Stepan's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd.

About Stepan

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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