Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 403,399 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,179 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 1.79% of Stepan worth $26,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCL. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Stepan by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,195,187 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $92,328,000 after buying an additional 17,530 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 486,976 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Stepan by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 321,396 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $20,794,000 after purchasing an additional 23,855 shares during the period. Southernsun Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Stepan by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 309,447 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $23,905,000 after buying an additional 30,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,790 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,031,000 after acquiring an additional 23,626 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Susan Lewis acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $120,452.88. The trade was a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Stepan Trading Down 1.3 %
SCL traded down $0.78 during trading on Friday, hitting $58.10. 136,594 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 100,048. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.26. Stepan has a 1 year low of $56.50 and a 1 year high of $94.77. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29 and a beta of 0.82.
Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $525.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.97 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Stepan Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Stepan's dividend payout ratio is presently 69.68%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Stepan
About Stepan
(
Free Report)
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.
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