GSA Capital Partners LLP Has $612,000 Stock Holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

GSA Capital Partners LLP decreased its stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 65.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,923 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 14,865 shares during the quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in Stepan were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SCL. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 25,502 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 3,073 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,532 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,195,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Stepan in the third quarter worth $390,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Stepan by 924.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 82,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,404,000 after buying an additional 74,809 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Stepan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Sunday.

Stepan Stock Performance

NYSE:SCL traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $75.31. 133,471 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 93,043. Stepan has a 12 month low of $69.78 and a 12 month high of $96.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.14.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $546.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The business's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is a positive change from Stepan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Stepan's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.63%.

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.