Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 429,000 shares, an increase of 23.5% from the December 15th total of 347,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 111,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Stepan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stepan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in Stepan by 3,053.3% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 51.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 211,302 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $17,741,000 after purchasing an additional 71,431 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Stepan by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $107,421,000 after purchasing an additional 34,264 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Stepan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,013,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Stepan by 48.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,654 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 1,517 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stepan Price Performance

SCL traded up $0.20 during trading on Friday, reaching $63.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 107,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 106,589. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.30. Stepan has a 1 year low of $59.70 and a 1 year high of $95.33. 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 data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm's revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.385 per share. This is a boost from Stepan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Stepan's payout ratio is presently 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.

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