North Star Investment Management Corp. Buys New Stake in Stepan Company $SCL

North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new stake in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 17,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $850,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in Stepan by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 900,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,642,000 after purchasing an additional 205,157 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 8.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 586,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,975,000 after buying an additional 45,520 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 514,401 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,362,000 after buying an additional 2,060 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 477,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,612,000 after buying an additional 23,097 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 195.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 299,970 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,207,000 after buying an additional 198,457 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stepan Price Performance

Stepan stock opened at $54.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of -88.08 and a beta of 0.96. Stepan Company has a 52-week low of $41.82 and a 52-week high of $68.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $52.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.22.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $604.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.25 million. Stepan had a negative net margin of 0.61% and a positive return on equity of 2.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Stepan Company will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.395 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -254.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on SCL. Weiss Ratings lowered Stepan from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

About Stepan

Stepan Company is a global manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals, primarily known for its development and production of surfactants and related specialty products. The company’s portfolio includes a wide range of ingredients used to enhance the performance of consumer and industrial formulations, such as emulsifiers, foam control agents, odor control agents, antimicrobial products and performance additives. These products are integral components in cleaning solutions, personal care items, agrochemical formulations, coatings, oilfield treatments and polymer systems.

Serving a diverse set of end-markets, Stepan’s offerings address both consumer-facing and industrial applications.