JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 19.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 142,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,626 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Stepan were worth $11,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Stepan by 3,053.3% in 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 period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Stepan by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $385,000 after buying an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Stepan by 51.1% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Stepan by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $107,421,000 after purchasing an additional 34,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Stepan in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,013,000. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Stepan Stock Performance

NYSE:SCL opened at $60.34 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. Stepan has a 52-week low of $59.70 and a 52-week high of $95.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 30.02 and a beta of 0.84.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $546.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.23 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. Stepan’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.385 dividend. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Stepan’s payout ratio is presently 76.62%.

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.