Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 410 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 410 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.10% of Stepan worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of SCL. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Stepan by 110.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Stepan by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Stepan in the third quarter valued at about $168,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Stepan in the third quarter worth about $170,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Stepan in the fourth quarter worth about $239,000. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Susan Lewis purchased 500 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,452.88. This represents a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Stepan Stock Performance

Stepan stock opened at $48.17 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80 and a beta of 0.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $59.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.80. Stepan has a 52-week low of $46.52 and a 52-week high of $94.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $525.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.97 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Stepan’s payout ratio is currently 69.68%.

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.