Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires New Shares in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 23,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SCL. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $717,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Stepan by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 18,597 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,674,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 12,422 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 28th.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCL opened at $77.57 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.32. Stepan has a 52 week low of $63.60 and a 52 week high of $96.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.73 and a beta of 0.80.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.26). Stepan had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 3.83%. The company had revenue of $556.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $581.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stepan news, VP David Kabbes purchased 1,056 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $71.39 per share, with a total value of $75,387.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,056 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,387.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Stepan 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.