Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Position Trimmed by Amalgamated Bank

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 3.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,287 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Stepan were worth $486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 3,053.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Stepan in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter valued at $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Stock Performance

NYSE:SCL opened at $74.74 on Friday. Stepan has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $96.68. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.18 and a beta of 0.81.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The business had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.23 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Stepan’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday.

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.