7,797 Shares in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Purchased by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 7,797 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SCL. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 924.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 82,901 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,404,000 after acquiring an additional 74,809 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Stepan by 409.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 92,053 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,111,000 after purchasing an additional 73,976 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 71,431 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in Stepan by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 747,140 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $62,730,000 after buying an additional 52,944 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Stepan by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $107,421,000 after buying an additional 34,264 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stepan Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of SCL traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.56. The stock had a trading volume of 54,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,978. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.60 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.60. Stepan has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $96.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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

Stepan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.385 per share. This is a boost from Stepan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Stepan's dividend payout ratio is presently 76.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.