Invesco Ltd. Grows Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 47.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 145,802 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,846 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.65% of Stepan worth $9,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 4th quarter worth $7,545,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Stepan by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 451,123 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,188,000 after buying an additional 54,943 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Stepan by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 176,066 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $11,391,000 after buying an additional 33,276 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Stepan by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 403,399 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $26,100,000 after purchasing an additional 29,179 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Stepan by 177.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,790 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,460,000 after purchasing an additional 28,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Insider Transactions at Stepan

In other news, Director Susan Lewis purchased 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,452.88. This represents a 35.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

Stepan Trading Up 8.3 %

NYSE:SCL traded up $4.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $52.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 40,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 115,069. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.21. Stepan has a 1 year low of $44.23 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $593.26 million for 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.68%.

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.