Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on SCL. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Stepan from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Stepan in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Stepan Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Stepan stock opened at $62.21 on Tuesday. Stepan has a twelve month low of $41.82 and a twelve month high of $68.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company’s 50 day moving average is $62.87 and its 200 day moving average is $56.04. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -518.41 and a beta of 0.94.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $684.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $635.85 million. Stepan had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 0.11%.The company’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Stepan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stepan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $192,698,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its holdings in Stepan by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 947,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,354,000 after acquiring an additional 47,075 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP raised its stake in Stepan by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 183,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,679,000 after acquiring an additional 2,547 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Stepan by 124.8% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 174,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,715,000 after acquiring an additional 96,823 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Stepan by 33.9% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 143,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,182,000 after acquiring an additional 36,386 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

About Stepan

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.