Stepan Company $SCL Stock Holdings Increased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

by · The Cerbat Gem

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL – Free Report) by 14.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 178,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 21,870 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Stepan were worth $9,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $141,538,000 after buying an additional 10,940 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,336,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,966,000 after acquiring an additional 83,941 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 540,953 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,525,000 after acquiring an additional 46,824 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Stepan by 1.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 508,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,758,000 after purchasing an additional 9,207 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 5.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 426,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,470,000 after purchasing an additional 23,022 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Stepan in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on SCL

Stepan Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE SCL opened at $45.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Stepan Company has a 1-year low of $41.82 and a 1-year high of $77.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96 and a beta of 1.06.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.12. Stepan had a return on equity of 3.70% and a net margin of 1.96%.The firm had revenue of $590.28 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stepan Company will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be paid a $0.395 dividend. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.80%.

About Stepan

(Free Report)

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.

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