Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Stock Position Decreased by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE cut its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 56,637 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,569 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Stepan were worth $3,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCL. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 781.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 4th quarter worth about $239,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its stake in shares of Stepan by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 4th quarter worth about $294,000. 82.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 25th.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCL opened at $54.24 on Friday. Stepan has a fifty-two week low of $44.23 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $52.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.33. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $593.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.60%.

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.