JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 23,626 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,626 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.63% of Stepan worth $11,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 177.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,460,000 after purchasing an additional 28,655 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Stepan by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 486,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,626,000 after buying an additional 4,777 shares during the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Stepan in the 3rd quarter worth $1,195,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,195,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,328,000 after buying an additional 17,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 409.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 92,053 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,111,000 after buying an additional 73,976 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Stock Performance

NYSE SCL opened at $60.34 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.84. Stepan has a 12-month low of $59.70 and a 12-month high of $95.33. 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’s 50 day moving average is $71.89 and its 200-day moving average is $75.95.

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

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.55%. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Stepan’s payout ratio is 76.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.