O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. Raises Stock Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 62,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,773 shares during the quarter. Stepan comprises 1.3% of O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Stepan were worth $4,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCL. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $107,421,000 after acquiring an additional 34,264 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,195,187 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,328,000 after buying an additional 17,530 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Stepan by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 747,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,730,000 after buying an additional 52,944 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Stepan by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 486,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,626,000 after acquiring an additional 4,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in Stepan by 4.3% during the second quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 424,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,613,000 after acquiring an additional 17,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of SCL opened at $63.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.35. Stepan has a 12-month low of $59.70 and a 12-month high of $95.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted 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 $0.65 by $0.38. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

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.