Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 51.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 211,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 71,431 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.94% of Stepan worth $17,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,562,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $242,306,000 after acquiring an additional 14,038 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 694,196 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $62,505,000 after purchasing an additional 4,424 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 2.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 325,443 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,324,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Stepan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,869,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 2.2% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 107,518 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,681,000 after buying an additional 2,301 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Kabbes purchased 1,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 $75,387.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Stepan Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SCL opened at $75.81 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.73 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $78.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.38. Stepan has a 12-month low of $63.60 and a 12-month high of $96.68.

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

Stepan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Stepan’s payout ratio is 90.36%.

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.