Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SCL. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Seaport Research Partners reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Stepan in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Stepan from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stepan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of SCL stock opened at $62.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of -518.41 and a beta of 0.94. Stepan has a 1 year low of $41.82 and a 1 year high of $68.00.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $684.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.85 million. Stepan had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 0.11%.Stepan’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a $0.3950 dividend. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is -1,316.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stepan

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Core Capital Management & Research inc. acquired a new stake in Stepan during the second quarter worth approximately $2,670,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan during the second quarter worth $85,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan during the second quarter worth $283,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Stepan by 80.2% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in Stepan in the second quarter valued at $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Company Profile

Stepan Company is a global manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals. Founded in 1932 and headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, the company develops, manufactures and sells chemical products used by businesses in a range of consumer and industrial markets.

Its principal products include surfactants, which are used in detergents, cleaners, personal care products, agricultural formulations and food applications. Stepan also produces polyurethane polyols, specialty polymers and other chemical intermediates used in insulation, construction materials, automotive products, coatings, adhesives and other industrial applications.

Stepan serves customers across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia through a network of manufacturing and research facilities.