Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 98.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 689,661 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Stepan were worth $788,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SCL. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 3,053.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Adirondack Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stepan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Stock Performance

SCL opened at $76.09 on Friday. Stepan has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $96.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.85 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.38. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The company had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Stepan’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders 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 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is 74.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of 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.