Stepan Company Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 (NYSE:SCL)

Key Points

• $0.395 quarterly dividend declared (annualized $1.58) payable June 15 to shareholders of record June 1, with an indicated yield of about 3.2%.
• The firm has raised its dividend for 57 consecutive years and carries a payout ratio around 38%, with analysts forecasting EPS sufficient to keep coverage in the mid-30% range.
• Stepan reported Q earnings of $0.45 (beat by $0.01) while revenue missed estimates, and its shares traded at $49.20 (market cap ~$1.12B, P/E ~24) following the release.

Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of 0.395 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, June 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st.

Stepan has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 57 consecutive years. Stepan has a payout ratio of 38.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Stepan to earn $4.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.58 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.4%.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCL traded down $3.46 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.20. 175,761 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 177,412. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $51.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00 and a beta of 1.01. Stepan has a 12-month low of $41.82 and a 12-month high of $68.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $604.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.95 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 3.38% and a net margin of 2.01%.The company's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Stepan

Stepan Company is a global manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals, primarily known for its development and production of surfactants and related specialty products. The company's portfolio includes a wide range of ingredients used to enhance the performance of consumer and industrial formulations, such as emulsifiers, foam control agents, odor control agents, antimicrobial products and performance additives. These products are integral components in cleaning solutions, personal care items, agrochemical formulations, coatings, oilfield treatments and polymer systems.

Serving a diverse set of end-markets, Stepan's offerings address both consumer-facing and industrial applications.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.