Creative Planning Has $785,000 Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 13.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Stepan were worth $785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 3,053.3% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stepan during the second quarter worth $59,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Stepan by 60.0% during the second quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Stepan during the second quarter worth $123,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stepan during the second quarter worth $134,000. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Stepan Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of SCL stock opened at $74.96 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $75.05 and a 200-day moving average of $82.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Stepan has a 12-month low of $63.60 and a 12-month high of $96.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.16 and a beta of 0.80.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 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 business had revenue of $556.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $581.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Stepan will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Stepan’s payout ratio is 90.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Stepan news, VP David Kabbes bought 1,056 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $71.39 per share, for a total transaction of $75,387.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 1,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,387.84. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.