Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 256,600 shares, a drop of 37.2% from the January 31st total of 408,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 123,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other Stepan news, Director Susan Lewis purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,452.88. The trade was a 35.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stepan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Stepan by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 7,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,008 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Stepan by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 6,606 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Stepan by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 76,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,938,000 after purchasing an additional 3,834 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Stepan by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 63,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,115,000 after purchasing an additional 12,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Stepan by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 921,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,634,000 after purchasing an additional 60,985 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th.

Stepan Price Performance

SCL traded down $3.68 on Monday, reaching $58.08. 228,150 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 128,131. The stock has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28 and a beta of 0.84. Stepan has a twelve month low of $57.93 and a twelve month high of $94.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.33). The business had revenue of $525.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.97 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Stepan will post 3.55 EPS for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. Stepan’s payout ratio is 69.68%.

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.