Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of Stepan stock opened at $54.24 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.54 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.74. Stepan has a fifty-two week low of $44.23 and a fifty-two week high of $94.77.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $593.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $562.77 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.31% and a return on equity of 4.21%. Stepan’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Stepan

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Stepan by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $141,538,000 after acquiring an additional 10,940 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Stepan by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,310,760 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,806,000 after acquiring an additional 18,392 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Stepan by 35.9% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,252,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,960,000 after acquiring an additional 331,210 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Stepan by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 660,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,705,000 after acquiring an additional 17,283 shares during the period. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in Stepan by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 638,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,311,000 after acquiring an additional 108,556 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

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.