Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Shares Bought by Walleye Capital LLC

Walleye Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 115.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,607 shares during the quarter. Walleye Capital LLC’s holdings in Stepan were worth $520,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCL. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Stepan by 3,053.3% in the 2nd 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. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stepan in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan in the second quarter worth approximately $59,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Stepan by 43.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Stepan in the 2nd quarter valued at $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Stock Performance

SCL opened at $74.91 on Monday. Stepan has a twelve month low of $69.78 and a twelve month high of $96.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.27 and a beta of 0.82. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $75.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.98.

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

Stepan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.385 dividend. This is a boost from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 17th.

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.