Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) Shares Acquired by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 11,484.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,365 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 14,241 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.06% of Stepan worth $791,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCL. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Stepan by 124.3% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,025 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its stake in Stepan by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,254 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Stepan in the fourth quarter worth about $294,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Stepan in the fourth quarter worth about $324,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Stepan Stock Down 1.6%

NYSE:SCL opened at $54.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.98 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.79 and a 200-day moving average of $59.09. Stepan Company has a 52 week low of $44.23 and a 52 week high of $94.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 4.61% and a net margin of 2.53%. The business's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Stepan Company will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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