Cwm LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Stepan Company $SCL

Cwm LLC raised its position in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 48.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,612 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC owned 0.08% of Stepan worth $933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,571,545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $141,538,000 after purchasing an additional 10,940 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $68,960,000 after purchasing an additional 331,210 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 494,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,197,000 after purchasing an additional 43,006 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 426,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,470,000 after purchasing an additional 23,022 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 280,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,454,000 after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SCL. Wall Street Zen downgraded Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Stepan from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Stepan currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Stepan Trading Up 1.6%

SCL stock opened at $46.29 on Wednesday. Stepan Company has a 1-year low of $44.23 and a 1-year high of $82.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.82.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.92 by ($0.40). The firm had revenue of $594.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $598.25 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.78% and a net margin of 2.57%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Stepan Company will post 3.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.63%.

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.