Pullen Investment Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Stepan Company $SCL

Pullen Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 22.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,225 shares during the period. Pullen Investment Management LLC owned about 0.12% of Stepan worth $1,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Stepan by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $141,538,000 after purchasing an additional 10,940 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in Stepan by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,252,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,960,000 after purchasing an additional 331,210 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,197,000 after buying an additional 43,006 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 426,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,470,000 after buying an additional 23,022 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Stepan by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 280,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,454,000 after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stepan Trading Up 0.4%

SCL opened at $46.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 0.96. Stepan Company has a 12 month low of $44.23 and a 12 month high of $82.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $48.39 and a 200 day moving average of $51.81.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.40). The company had revenue of $594.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $598.25 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.78% and a net margin of 2.57%.The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stepan Company will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Stepan from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Saturday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Stepan currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Stepan 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.