Stepan Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.39 (NYSE:SCL)

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.385 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

Stepan has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 57 years. Stepan has a payout ratio of 32.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Stepan to earn $4.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.2%.

Stepan Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE SCL traded down $0.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $62.38. 144,647 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 124,987. Stepan has a 12 month low of $59.55 and a 12 month high of $94.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 0.84.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.33). Stepan had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. The company had revenue of $525.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $520.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Stepan's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.