Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Position in Stepan Company $SCL

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 24.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 234,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 77,685 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 1.04% of Stepan worth $12,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Stepan by 45.4% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 231.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 604 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Stepan in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $50,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Stepan during the 2nd quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Stepan during the second quarter worth about $234,000. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stepan Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE SCL opened at $42.93 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $971.03 million, a PE ratio of 21.68 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $46.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.19. Stepan Company has a one year low of $41.82 and a one year high of $79.11.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.12. Stepan had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 3.70%. The firm had revenue of $590.28 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $593.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Stepan Company will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.395 dividend. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Stepan in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen cut Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce”.

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.