Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Increases Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,490 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 9,213 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.32% of Stepan worth $5,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $679,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Stepan during the third quarter worth $1,195,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Stepan by 409.2% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 92,053 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,111,000 after acquiring an additional 73,976 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Stepan by 5.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 374,220 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $28,908,000 after purchasing an additional 18,854 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 4,144.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 20,075 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,551,000 after purchasing an additional 19,602 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Stepan Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of SCL traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $73.56. 54,155 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 112,978. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.60 and a beta of 0.82. Stepan has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from Stepan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Stepan's payout ratio is currently 76.62%.

Stepan Company 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.