Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Director Purchases $31,765.00 in Stock

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was bought 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Stepan Price Performance

NYSE:SCL opened at $61.68 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91 and a beta of 0.84. Stepan has a 52-week low of $59.55 and a 52-week high of $94.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $525.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stepan

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,560,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $165,671,000 after buying an additional 25,841 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,806,000 after buying an additional 18,392 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 1.5% during 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 during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 921,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,634,000 after purchasing an additional 60,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Stepan by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 660,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,705,000 after purchasing an additional 17,283 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Stepan Company Profile

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.