The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 154 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company trimmed its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.05% of Stepan worth $909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Stepan by 2.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $107,421,000 after buying an additional 34,264 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Stepan by 7.6% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 747,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,730,000 after buying an additional 52,944 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in Stepan by 4.3% in the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 424,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,613,000 after buying an additional 17,361 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Stepan by 5.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 374,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,908,000 after buying an additional 18,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Stepan by 2.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 325,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,324,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Stepan Price Performance

SCL stock opened at $74.08 on Friday. Stepan has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $96.68. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.86 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.35 and a 200 day moving average of $78.77. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.23 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is 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.