Geode Capital Management LLC Purchases 4,777 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 486,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,777 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.16% of Stepan worth $37,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Stepan by 2.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 325,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,324,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan in the second quarter worth about $59,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter worth about $134,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 3,053.3% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Stepan Price Performance

NYSE SCL opened at $67.42 on Wednesday. Stepan has a 1 year low of $66.19 and a 1 year high of $96.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54 and a beta of 0.82.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Stepan’s payout ratio is 76.62%.

Stepan Company Profile

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.