State of Alaska Department of Revenue Has $932,000 Stock Holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 469 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Stepan were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Stepan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $648,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Stepan by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 70,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,337,000 after buying an additional 18,733 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Stepan during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $679,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Stepan by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 13,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after buying an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Stepan by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 3,690 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stepan

In related news, VP David Kabbes purchased 1,056 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.39 per share, for a total transaction of $75,387.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,056 shares in the company, valued at $75,387.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of Stepan stock opened at $74.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 36.98 and a beta of 0.81. Stepan has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $96.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.27 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $546.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.23 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. Stepan’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is 74.63%.

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.