Wells Fargo & Company MN Has $907,000 Stock Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 24.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,018 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,746 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Stepan were worth $907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Stepan by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,560,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $165,671,000 after purchasing an additional 25,841 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Stepan by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 451,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,188,000 after purchasing an additional 54,943 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 403,399 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,100,000 after buying an additional 29,179 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 321,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,794,000 after buying an additional 23,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Stepan by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 176,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,391,000 after buying an additional 33,276 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Stepan Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:SCL opened at $50.59 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $53.89 and a 200-day moving average of $64.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of 22.89 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.21. Stepan has a 52-week low of $44.23 and a 52-week high of $94.77.

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

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. Stepan’s payout ratio is 69.68%.

Insider Transactions at Stepan

In other news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,452.88. This represents a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.