Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Declares $0.39 Quarterly Dividend

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 29th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of 0.385 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th.

Stepan has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 57 years. Stepan has a payout ratio of 35.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Stepan to earn $4.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.2%.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of Stepan stock traded up $1.47 on Friday, hitting $54.90. The stock had a trading volume of 243,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 118,242. The stock has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84 and a beta of 0.97. 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 has a twelve month low of $44.23 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The business's 50 day moving average is $53.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.66.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 EPS 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 return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $63.53 per share, with a total value of $31,765.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at $120,452.88. This trade represents a 35.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Stepan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday.

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.