4,906 Shares in Stepan Company $SCL Purchased by Inceptionr LLC

Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SCL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $141,538,000 after acquiring an additional 10,940 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in Stepan by 6.7% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,336,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,966,000 after purchasing an additional 83,941 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Stepan by 9.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 540,953 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,525,000 after purchasing an additional 46,824 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Stepan by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 508,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,758,000 after purchasing an additional 9,207 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Stepan by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 426,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,470,000 after purchasing an additional 23,022 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Price Performance

NYSE SCL opened at $45.33 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.55 and its 200 day moving average is $50.66. Stepan Company has a fifty-two week low of $41.82 and a fifty-two week high of $77.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.89 and a beta of 0.99.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $590.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.65 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 3.70% and a net margin of 1.96%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Stepan Company will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.395 per share. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Stepan’s payout ratio is presently 79.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SCL. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Stepan in a research note on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

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.