Dean Investment Associates LLC Decreases Stock Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Dean Investment Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 42.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,584 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 9,850 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Stepan worth $1,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SCL. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Stepan by 924.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 82,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,404,000 after purchasing an additional 74,809 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Stepan by 409.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 92,053 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,111,000 after buying an additional 73,976 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 51.1% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 211,302 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $17,741,000 after acquiring an additional 71,431 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in Stepan by 7.6% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 747,140 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $62,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,944 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Stepan by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $107,421,000 after acquiring an additional 34,264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stepan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, November 17th.

Stepan Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE SCL traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $75.49. 92,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 94,769. Stepan has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $96.68. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $75.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.90. The company has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 37.56 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is a positive change from Stepan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Stepan's payout ratio is 76.62%.

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.