nVerses Capital LLC Decreases Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

nVerses Capital LLC reduced its position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC’s holdings in Stepan were worth $100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 2.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 1.9% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 5.6% in the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 18,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,674,000 after buying an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in Stepan by 2.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 28th.

Insider Activity

In other Stepan news, VP David Kabbes bought 1,056 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $71.39 per share, with a total value of $75,387.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the vice president now owns 1,056 shares in the company, valued at $75,387.84. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE SCL opened at $75.52 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Stepan has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $96.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.49 and a beta of 0.80.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.26). Stepan had a return on equity of 3.83% and a net margin of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $556.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $581.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is 90.36%.

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.