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 risk, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and community ranking.

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%

Is SCL or BCPC a better dividend stock?

Stepan pays an annual dividend of $1.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Balchem pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Stepan pays out 74.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Balchem pays out 10.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Stepan has increased its dividend for 57 consecutive years and Balchem has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Stepan is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, SCL or BCPC?

Stepan has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Balchem has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor SCL or BCPC?

In the previous week, Stepan had 11 more articles in the media than Balchem. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Stepan and 2 mentions for Balchem. Balchem's average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Stepan's score of 0.44 indicating that Balchem is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Stepan	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Balchem	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings & 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	0.73	$40.20M	$2.01	37.49
Balchem	$922.44M	6.27	$108.54M	$3.72	47.86

Do analysts recommend SCL or BCPC?

Balchem has a consensus target price of $190.00, suggesting a potential upside of 6.72%. Given Balchem's stronger consensus rating and higher probable 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

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 55.33% of users gave Stepan an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Stepan	Outperform Votes 249 55.33%	Underperform Votes 201 44.67%
Balchem	Outperform Votes 389 66.84%	Underperform Votes 193 33.16%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in SCL or BCPC?

82.7% of Stepan shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.9% of Balchem shares are held by institutional investors. 7.0% of Stepan shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Balchem shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

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