10,600 Shares in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 10,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,002,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCL. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Stepan in the third quarter worth $254,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Stepan by 0.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 323,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,285,000 after buying an additional 2,742 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 6.5% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,764 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 21.6% during the third quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 97,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,328,000 after purchasing an additional 17,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stepan during the third quarter worth $307,000. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Stepan

In related news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $455,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 255,567 shares in the company, valued at $23,274,486.69. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Stepan news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $455,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 255,567 shares in the company, valued at $23,274,486.69. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.43, for a total value of $174,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 250,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,916,602.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,637 shares of company stock worth $957,940 over the last three months. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Stepan Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:SCL opened at $84.89 on Thursday. Stepan has a twelve month low of $63.60 and a twelve month high of $100.61. The company has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.51 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $532.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $534.48 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.20% and a net margin of 1.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Stepan’s payout ratio is currently 85.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Stepan from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Stepan Company Profile

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.