State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Raises Stock Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,073 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned approximately 0.11% of Stepan worth $1,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 924.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 82,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,404,000 after purchasing an additional 74,809 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan by 51.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 211,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,741,000 after buying an additional 71,431 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Stepan by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 747,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,730,000 after buying an additional 52,944 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 2.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $107,421,000 after acquiring an additional 34,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan during the second quarter worth about $2,013,000. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of SCL opened at $74.74 on Monday. Stepan has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $96.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.18 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.26 and a 200-day moving average of $80.21.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.23 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. Stepan’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Stepan’s payout ratio is currently 74.63%.

About Stepan

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.