Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Sells 1,223 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp reduced its stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,223 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned 0.08% of Stepan worth $1,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SCL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Stepan during the 4th quarter worth $12,869,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Stepan by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 323,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,592,000 after buying an additional 25,570 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Stepan by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 70,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,337,000 after buying an additional 18,733 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Stepan by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,562,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,306,000 after buying an additional 14,038 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Stepan by 229.9% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 12,728 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,203,000 after buying an additional 8,870 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Stepan

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

Stepan Stock Performance

SCL opened at $77.57 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.42. Stepan has a 1 year low of $63.60 and a 1 year high of $96.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.73 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.26). Stepan had a net margin of 1.58% and a return on equity of 3.83%. The firm had revenue of $556.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $581.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Stepan 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.