Stepan Company $SCL Shares Acquired by Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its position in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 947,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 47,075 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Stepan were worth $47,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Stepan by 4.1% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,325 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. North Star Investment Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Stepan in the 1st quarter valued at about $850,000. Grace & White Inc. NY grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY now owns 139,013 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,948,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan during the 1st quarter worth about $475,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Stepan by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 63,873 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,192,000 after purchasing an additional 17,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SCL. Zacks Research lowered shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Stepan from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Sell”.

Stepan Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE SCL opened at $55.95 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Stepan Company has a 12-month low of $41.82 and a 12-month high of $68.00. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of -90.24 and a beta of 0.95.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.06. Stepan had a positive return on equity of 2.65% and a negative net margin of 0.61%.The company had revenue of $604.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $612.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Stepan Company will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.395 per share. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -254.84%.

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.