Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday.

Stepan Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE SCL traded down $0.56 during trading on Monday, hitting $54.17. 78,112 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 123,905. Stepan has a 1 year low of $44.23 and a 1 year high of $94.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $51.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.33. Stepan had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. The company had revenue of $593.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $562.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Stepan's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.60%.

Institutional Trading of Stepan

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Stepan by 177.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,790 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,460,000 after purchasing an additional 28,655 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Stepan by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 102,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,639,000 after purchasing an additional 2,844 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Stepan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,560,605 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $165,671,000 after purchasing an additional 25,841 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Stepan during the 4th quarter worth $324,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Stepan by 196.7% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,633 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $720,000 after purchasing an additional 7,712 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.