Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL – Get Rating) by 29.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,307 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,892 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Stepan were worth $884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Stepan by 26.9% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,442 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Stepan by 8.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 19,586 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,935,000 after buying an additional 3,027 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Stepan by 58.9% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 11,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,135,000 after buying an additional 4,260 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stepan by 191.3% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482 shares in the last quarter. 76.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, VP Arthur W. Mergner sold 3,987 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction on Friday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.34, for a total transaction of $372,146.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,577,677.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Arthur W. Mergner sold 3,987 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.34, for a total value of $372,146.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 27,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,577,677.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Arthur W. Mergner sold 1,996 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.23, for a total value of $196,067.08. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 27,516 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,702,896.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,983 shares of company stock worth $748,034. 6.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Stepan Price Performance
NYSE SCL opened at $98.19 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Stepan has a 12 month low of $87.11 and a 12 month high of $116.72. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.48. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 0.83.
Stepan (NYSE:SCL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 25th. The basic materials company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.23). Stepan had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 11.20%. The firm had revenue of $651.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $649.73 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. Stepan’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current year.
Stepan Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.365 per share. This represents a $1.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 30th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.40%.
Stepan Company Profile
Stepan Co engages in the manufacture and sale of specialty and intermediate chemicals. It operates through the following segments: Surfactants, Polymers, and Specialty Products. The Surfactants segment offers a range of surfactant chemicals such as anionic, cationic, nonionic, and amphoteric surfactants.
Read More
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