Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 177,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,547 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Stepan were worth $16,747,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SCL. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 18,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,875,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,462 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,031 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Mariner LLC grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,316 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Stepan from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Stepan news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.43, for a total value of $174,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 250,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,916,602.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Stepan news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.43, for a total value of $174,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 250,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,916,602.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 3,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.11, for a total value of $327,730.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 255,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,029,142.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,637 shares of company stock worth $957,940 in the last three months. 7.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Stepan Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SCL opened at $84.10 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $88.68 and a 200 day moving average of $84.94. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 48.06 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Stepan has a 12-month low of $63.60 and a 12-month high of $101.80.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $532.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $534.48 million. Stepan had a net margin of 1.73% and a return on equity of 4.20%. The company’s revenue was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.71%.

About Stepan

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.