Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 14,966 Shares of Stepan Company $SCL

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 12.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,445 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 14,966 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.46% of Stepan worth $5,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Stepan by 5,403.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $245,000 after purchasing an additional 4,809 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 5.2% during the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 947,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,354,000 after buying an additional 47,075 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Stepan by 4.1% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,325 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Stepan in the first quarter valued at about $850,000. Finally, Grace & White Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 7.7% in the first quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 139,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,948,000 after acquiring an additional 9,900 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Stepan from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stepan currently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of Stepan stock opened at $57.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of -93.31 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $54.85 and a 200-day moving average of $53.62. Stepan Company has a 1-year low of $41.82 and a 1-year high of $68.00.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $604.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.25 million. Stepan had a positive return on equity of 2.65% and a negative net margin of 0.61%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stepan Company will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Company Profile

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.