Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Acquires 18,854 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 374,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 18,854 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 1.66% of Stepan worth $28,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SCL. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan in the 2nd quarter valued at $679,000. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Stepan during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,195,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Stepan by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Stepan by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 7,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $633,000 after acquiring an additional 8,085 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 17th.

Stepan Price Performance

NYSE SCL opened at $75.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.25. Stepan has a 52-week low of $69.78 and a 52-week high of $96.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37 and a beta of 0.82.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm had revenue of $546.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.62%.

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.