Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes Position in Stepan Company $SCL

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 27,982 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,335,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SCL. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in Stepan by 6.7% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,336,855 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,966,000 after buying an additional 83,941 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its position in Stepan by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 695,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,162,000 after acquiring an additional 10,462 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Stepan by 9.5% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 540,953 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,525,000 after buying an additional 46,824 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 1.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 508,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,758,000 after purchasing an additional 9,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southernsun Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 406,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,160,000 after buying an additional 30,002 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SCL shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Stepan in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Stepan Stock Up 1.3%

SCL opened at $57.72 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.15 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Stepan Company has a 52 week low of $41.82 and a 52 week high of $64.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.73.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $590.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.65 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 3.70% and a net margin of 1.96%.Stepan’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Stepan Company will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.