Comerica Bank Lowers Stock Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Comerica Bank cut its holdings in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL – Get Rating) by 10.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,870 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Stepan were worth $1,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stepan during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Stepan by 66.6% during the second quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in Stepan by 306.6% in the 1st quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Stepan in the 2nd quarter valued at $148,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in Stepan by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,755 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $173,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. 76.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Stepan

In other news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $583,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 64,869 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,135,590. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Arthur W. Mergner sold 2,156 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.01, for a total transaction of $222,089.56. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,422,074.13. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $583,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 64,869 shares in the company, valued at $7,135,590. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Stock Performance

NYSE:SCL opened at $108.42 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $109.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.97. Stepan has a 1-year low of $91.64 and a 1-year high of $117.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 0.80.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 19th. The basic materials company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Stepan had a net margin of 5.56% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The business had revenue of $719.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $664.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Stepan will post 6.84 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 30th.

Stepan Profile

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Stepan Company, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells specialty and intermediate chemicals to other manufacturers for use in various end products. It operates through three segments: Surfactants, Polymers, and Specialty Products. The Surfactants segment offers surfactants that are used as principal ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning 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.