Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Stepan were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 1.5% in the third 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 increased its stake in Stepan by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 486,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,626,000 after buying an additional 4,777 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Stepan by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 403,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,100,000 after buying an additional 29,179 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Stepan by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 321,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,794,000 after buying an additional 23,855 shares during the period. Finally, Southernsun Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Stepan by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 309,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,905,000 after buying an additional 30,703 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Susan Lewis purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,452.88. This represents a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Stepan Trading Up 1.4 %

SCL stock opened at $57.64 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.08 and a beta of 0.82. Stepan has a 12 month low of $56.50 and a 12 month high of $94.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $61.79 and its 200 day moving average is $69.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.33). Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business had revenue of $525.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $520.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Stepan’s payout ratio is 69.68%.

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.