WINTON GROUP Ltd Acquires Shares of 23,936 Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 23,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,549,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its holdings in Stepan by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 20,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Stepan by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,560,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $165,671,000 after purchasing an additional 25,841 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Stepan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $324,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Stepan by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 451,123 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,188,000 after purchasing an additional 54,943 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Stepan by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of Stepan stock opened at $57.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.87 and a beta of 0.82. Stepan has a twelve month low of $56.20 and a twelve month high of $94.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.67.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan Lewis acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.53 per share, with a total value of $31,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,452.88. This trade represents a 35.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.