Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys Shares of 7,797 Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,797 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 2.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 1.9% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in Stepan by 5.6% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Stepan by 43.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in Stepan by 2.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $811,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 17th.

Stepan Stock Performance

NYSE SCL opened at $73.56 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $75.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.63. Stepan has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $96.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 36.60 and a beta of 0.82. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.38. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The firm had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.385 dividend. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Stepan’s payout ratio is currently 76.62%.

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.