Stepan Company $SCL Shares Acquired by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 33.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 36,386 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Stepan were worth $7,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Stepan by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 11,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Stepan in the 1st quarter worth approximately $818,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $699,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 66,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,649,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan in the second quarter valued at approximately $495,000. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SCL. Weiss Ratings cut Stepan from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Stepan Price Performance

Stepan stock opened at $58.46 on Monday. Stepan Company has a 12-month low of $41.82 and a 12-month high of $68.00. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -94.29 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.06. Stepan had a negative net margin of 0.61% and a positive return on equity of 2.65%. The company had revenue of $604.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $612.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. Stepan’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stepan Company will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.395 per share. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Stepan’s payout ratio is presently -254.84%.

Stepan Profile

Stepan Company is a global manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals, primarily known for its development and production of surfactants and related specialty products. The company’s portfolio includes a wide range of ingredients used to enhance the performance of consumer and industrial formulations, such as emulsifiers, foam control agents, odor control agents, antimicrobial products and performance additives. These products are integral components in cleaning solutions, personal care items, agrochemical formulations, coatings, oilfield treatments and polymer systems.

Serving a diverse set of end-markets, Stepan’s offerings address both consumer-facing and industrial applications.