Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Plans $0.39 Quarterly Dividend

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.385 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd.

Stepan has increased its dividend by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 57 years. Stepan has a dividend payout ratio of 32.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Stepan to earn $3.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.4%.

Stepan Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Stepan stock traded up $1.41 on Thursday, hitting $63.94. The stock had a trading volume of 113,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 124,893. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.41 and a 200 day moving average of $71.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. Stepan has a twelve month low of $59.55 and a twelve month high of $94.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 0.84.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $525.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.97 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The company’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th.

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.