First Trust Advisors LP Has $40.36 Million Stake in Stepan Company $SCL

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its stake in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 739,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 13,657 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 3.27% of Stepan worth $40,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCL. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Stepan by 45.4% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Stepan by 206.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 5,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 12,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $699,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on SCL. Zacks Research upgraded Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Stepan in a research note on Monday, December 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stepan presently has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCL opened at $45.50 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98 and a beta of 1.06. Stepan Company has a fifty-two week low of $41.82 and a fifty-two week high of $76.41.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $590.28 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $593.65 million. Stepan had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 3.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Stepan Company will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a $0.395 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.80%.

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.