Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 2,082 Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SCL. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Stepan by 3,053.3% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan in the second quarter valued at about $59,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Stepan by 43.9% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Stepan during the second quarter worth about $123,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of SCL stock opened at $75.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.25. Stepan has a 12 month low of $69.78 and a 12 month high of $96.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 37.62 and a beta of 0.82.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. Stepan’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 17th.

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.