Rhumbline Advisers Sells 1,163 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Rhumbline Advisers lessened its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,163 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned approximately 0.34% of Stepan worth $4,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Stepan in the 4th quarter valued at $239,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Stepan by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in Stepan by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Stepan by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 62,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,043,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Stepan by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of SCL opened at $61.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82 and a beta of 0.84. Stepan has a 52-week low of $59.55 and a 52-week high of $94.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $63.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $525.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.97 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,452.88. This trade represents a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.