Grace & White Inc. NY Increases Position in Stepan Company $SCL

Grace & White Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 139,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,900 shares during the quarter. Stepan makes up approximately 1.2% of Grace & White Inc. NY’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Grace & White Inc. NY owned approximately 0.61% of Stepan worth $6,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on SCL shares. Zacks Research lowered Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Stepan from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Sell”.

Stepan Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE SCL opened at $55.59 on Friday. Stepan Company has a 52-week low of $41.82 and a 52-week high of $68.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.15 and a 200-day moving average of $52.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -89.66 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.06. Stepan had a positive return on equity of 2.65% and a negative net margin of 0.61%.The business had revenue of $604.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $612.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Stepan Company will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.395 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is currently -254.84%.

About Stepan

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.