Dark Forest Capital Management LP Buys 12,961 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 211.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,096 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 12,961 shares during the quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP owned about 0.08% of Stepan worth $1,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Southernsun Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Stepan by 24.0% during the fourth 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 period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its stake in Stepan by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 13,223 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $856,000 after buying an additional 3,153 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 12,865 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Stepan by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,760 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $84,806,000 after acquiring an additional 18,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 660,048 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $42,705,000 after acquiring an additional 17,283 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stepan

In other Stepan news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was bought at an average price of $63.53 per share, with a total value of $31,765.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.90% of the company's stock.

Stepan Stock Up 6.5 %

Shares of SCL traded up $3.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $51.31. 71,880 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 115,210. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.21 and a beta of 0.97. Stepan has a 52 week low of $44.23 and a 52 week high of $94.77.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.33. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.68%.

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.