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

Key Points

• Stepan has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting a change in analyst sentiment regarding the company's stock performance.
• Despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.9%, Stepan reported earnings of $0.52 EPS for the last quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 EPS by $0.40.
• Approximately 82.70% of Stepan's stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating significant interest from large financial entities.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCL traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, reaching $50.56. The company had a trading volume of 32,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 127,005. The firm's fifty day moving average is $55.71 and its 200 day moving average is $56.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90 and a beta of 0.98. Stepan has a twelve month low of $44.23 and a twelve month high of $82.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.40). Stepan had a return on equity of 4.78% and a net margin of 2.57%. The company had revenue of $594.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $598.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCL. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Stepan by 11,484.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,365 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $791,000 after purchasing an additional 14,241 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 4th quarter worth about $324,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Stepan by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 105,341 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,798,000 after acquiring an additional 2,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Stepan by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 176,066 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,391,000 after acquiring an additional 33,276 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.