Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of Stepan stock opened at $54.86 on Monday. Stepan has a twelve month low of $44.23 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $51.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82 and a beta of 1.00.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $593.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.77 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. Stepan’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Stepan’s payout ratio is 62.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stepan

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 781.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 124.3% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,025 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 67.9% during the 1st quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.