Rhumbline Advisers reduced its position in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,773 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,451 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.29% of Stepan worth $3,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $141,538,000 after purchasing an additional 10,940 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,252,914 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $68,960,000 after purchasing an additional 331,210 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,129 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $27,197,000 after purchasing an additional 43,006 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Stepan by 5.7% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Stepan by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 280,778 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $15,454,000 after acquiring an additional 3,368 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
SCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Zacks Research downgraded Stepan from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note 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".
Check Out Our Latest Report on Stepan
Stepan Stock Performance
NYSE SCL traded down $1.29 on Friday, hitting $48.61. 386,403 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 196,776. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $51.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.27. Stepan Company has a fifty-two week low of $44.23 and a fifty-two week high of $82.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14 and a beta of 0.97.
Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.40). The business 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%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Stepan Company will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.
Stepan Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 is currently 60.63%.
Stepan Profile
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Free Report)
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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