Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Increases Dividend to $0.39 Per Share

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 30th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.385 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38.

Stepan has raised its dividend by an average of 9.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 56 years. Stepan has a payout ratio of 36.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Stepan to earn $4.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.8%.

Stepan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCL opened at $72.41 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $75.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.85. Stepan has a 1-year low of $69.78 and a 1-year high of $96.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $1.63 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03 and a beta of 0.80.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.23 million. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 28th.

Insider Activity at Stepan

In other news, VP David Kabbes bought 1,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $71.39 per share, with a total value of $75,387.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the vice president now owns 1,056 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,387.84. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.