Stepan (SCL) Competitors

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) and Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, media sentiment, community ranking, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Do analysts recommend SCL or BCPC?

Balchem has a consensus target price of $190.00, indicating a potential upside of 18.64%. Given Balchem's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Balchem is more favorable than Stepan.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Stepan	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0.00
Balchem	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Do insiders & institutionals believe in SCL or BCPC?

82.7% of Stepan shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Balchem shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.0% of Stepan shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Balchem shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is SCL or BCPC more profitable?

Balchem has a net margin of 12.90% compared to Stepan's net margin of 2.10%. Balchem's return on equity of 10.99% beat Stepan's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Stepan	2.10%	4.56%	2.32%
Balchem	12.90%	10.99%	7.65%

Does the media favor SCL or BCPC?

In the previous week, Stepan had 1 more articles in the media than Balchem. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for Stepan and 1 mentions for Balchem. Balchem's average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat Stepan's score of 0.83 indicating that Balchem is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Stepan	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Balchem	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SCL or BCPC?

Balchem received 140 more outperform votes than Stepan when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.84% of users gave Balchem an outperform vote while only 55.21% of users gave Stepan an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Stepan	Outperform Votes 249 55.21%	Underperform Votes 202 44.79%
Balchem	Outperform Votes 389 66.84%	Underperform Votes 193 33.16%

Which has more volatility and risk, SCL or BCPC?

Stepan has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Balchem has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SCL or BCPC a better dividend stock?

Stepan pays an annual dividend of $1.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Balchem pays an annual dividend of $0.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Stepan pays out 76.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Balchem pays out 23.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Stepan has increased its dividend for 57 consecutive years and Balchem has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years. Stepan is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, SCL or BCPC?

Balchem has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Stepan. Stepan is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Balchem, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Stepan	$2.33B	0.62	$40.20M	$2.01	31.73
Balchem	$942.38M	5.52	$108.54M	$3.72	43.05

Summary

Balchem beats Stepan on 15 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.