Geode Capital Management LLC Has $37.63 Million Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 1.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 486,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Stepan were worth $37,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Stepan by 177.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,460,000 after acquiring an additional 28,655 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 72,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,600,000 after purchasing an additional 9,213 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Stepan during the third quarter valued at approximately $602,000. Southernsun Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 11.0% in the third quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 309,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,905,000 after purchasing an additional 30,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Stepan by 1.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,195,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,328,000 after purchasing an additional 17,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of Stepan stock opened at $67.42 on Wednesday. Stepan has a twelve month low of $66.19 and a twelve month high of $96.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.54 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.77.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The company had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.