New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $4.02 Million Holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 42.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 18,522 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Stepan were worth $4,021,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SCL. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,195,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $92,328,000 after acquiring an additional 17,530 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 486,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,626,000 after purchasing an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stepan by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 374,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,908,000 after purchasing an additional 18,854 shares in the last quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 309,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,905,000 after buying an additional 30,703 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Stepan by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,031,000 after buying an additional 23,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Stepan news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.53 per share, with a total value of $31,765.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,452.88. The trade was a 35.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of SCL opened at $61.68 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $63.27 and its 200 day moving average is $70.96. Stepan has a 12-month low of $59.55 and a 12-month high of $94.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.91 and a beta of 0.84.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $525.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $520.97 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.68%.

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.