Northern Trust Corp Acquires 28,427 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 11.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 277,410 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 28,427 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.23% of Stepan worth $17,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Stepan by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,398 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,617 shares during the last quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Stepan by 211.3% during the 4th quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 19,096 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 12,961 shares during the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Stepan by 24.0% during the 4th quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 383,685 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $24,824,000 after purchasing an additional 74,238 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 13,223 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 12,865 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Stepan Stock Performance

SCL traded up $0.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $56.12. The stock had a trading volume of 164,795 shares, compared to its average volume of 120,873. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39 and a beta of 1.00. Stepan has a one year low of $44.23 and a one year high of $94.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $593.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.77 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Stepan's payout ratio is 62.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at $120,452.88. The trade was a 35.82% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

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.