BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Stock Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 22.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,577 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,894 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Stepan were worth $508,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCL. Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Stepan by 3,053.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Stepan during the third quarter valued at about $48,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Stepan in the second quarter worth about $59,000. KBC Group NV boosted 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 acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Stepan during the second quarter valued at approximately $123,000. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stepan Price Performance

Stepan stock opened at $73.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.68. Stepan has a 52 week low of $69.78 and a 52 week high of $96.68.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $546.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.385 dividend. This is a positive change from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.