Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Shares Bought by Barclays PLC

Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 177.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 28,655 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.20% of Stepan worth $3,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Stepan by 3,053.3% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan in the second quarter valued at about $129,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Stepan Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SCL opened at $66.82 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.24 and a beta of 0.82. Stepan has a 52-week low of $66.19 and a 52-week high of $96.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.02.

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

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.62%.

About Stepan

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.