Aigen Investment Management LP Invests $200,000 in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 49.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,690 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Stepan by 324.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 2.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 107,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,681,000 after buying an additional 2,301 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan during the first quarter worth $512,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 10.5% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 25,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,303,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday.

Stepan Trading Down 1.5 %

Stepan stock opened at $74.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.18 and a beta of 0.81. Stepan has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $96.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $546.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.23 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.62%.

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.