Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $48.85 Million Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 5,436.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 516,704 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 507,371 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 2.31% of Stepan worth $48,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Stepan by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 105,217 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $9,948,000 after acquiring an additional 24,721 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 30,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979 shares in the last quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 122,847 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,615,000 after purchasing an additional 25,100 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Stepan by 645.3% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,103 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $104,000 after buying an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Stepan by 19.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 5,671 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 907 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Stepan

In other Stepan news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $455,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 255,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,274,486.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.43, for a total transaction of $174,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 250,676 shares in the company, valued at $21,916,602.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $455,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 255,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,274,486.69. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,637 shares of company stock valued at $957,940 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCL traded up $1.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $86.73. 39,768 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 76,065. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.25 and a beta of 0.84. Stepan has a twelve month low of $63.60 and a twelve month high of $100.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.29. Stepan had a net margin of 1.71% and a return on equity of 4.04%. The company had revenue of $551.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $575.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 30th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Stepan from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Stepan Company 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.