Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Stepan Price Performance

NYSE:SCL opened at $63.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $71.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.65. Stepan has a 12 month low of $59.70 and a 12 month high of $95.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $546.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.23 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Stepan

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Stepan by 3,053.3% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Stepan by 24.7% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $385,000 after buying an additional 908 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Stepan by 51.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 211,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,741,000 after buying an additional 71,431 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $107,421,000 after acquiring an additional 34,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter worth $2,013,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

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.