Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Stake Raised by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 13.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Stepan were worth $785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCL. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 51.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 211,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,741,000 after acquiring an additional 71,431 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 7.6% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 747,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,730,000 after acquiring an additional 52,944 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 2.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 34,264 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Stepan during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,013,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 245.7% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 27,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after acquiring an additional 19,477 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Kabbes acquired 1,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $71.39 per share, for a total transaction of $75,387.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,387.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Trading Up 1.7 %

Stepan stock opened at $74.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.16 and a beta of 0.80. Stepan has a 1 year low of $63.60 and a 1 year high of $96.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $75.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.08.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $556.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $581.30 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 3.83% and a net margin of 1.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Stepan will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Stepan’s payout ratio is 90.36%.

Stepan 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.