Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $7.11 Million Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 409.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,053 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 73,976 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.41% of Stepan worth $7,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 3,053.3% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Stepan in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Stepan in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Stepan by 43.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 934 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Stepan in the second quarter valued at approximately $123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Stepan Trading Up 0.8 %

SCL stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $74.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 56,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 94,778. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $75.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.19. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.25 and a beta of 0.82. Stepan has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $96.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $577.23 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. This is a boost from Stepan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Stepan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.62%.

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.