Stepan Company $SCL Shares Purchased by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 6.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,336,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,941 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned 0.06% of Stepan worth $72,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Stepan by 45.4% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 231.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Stepan in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan in the second quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter worth about $234,000. 82.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Stepan in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stepan has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Stepan Stock Performance

Stepan stock opened at $44.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.29. Stepan Company has a one year low of $41.82 and a one year high of $79.11. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $46.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $999.74 million, a PE ratio of 22.32 and a beta of 0.99.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.12. Stepan had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 3.70%. The business had revenue of $590.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Stepan Company will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.395 dividend. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.80%.

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.