Hsbc Holdings PLC Lowers Stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 11.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,533 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 696 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Stepan were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 781.4% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Stepan by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Stepan in the 4th quarter valued at $239,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its position in Stepan by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,254 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $275,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan in the 4th quarter worth $324,000. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stepan Stock Up 1.8 %

SCL opened at $54.47 on Friday. 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 has a 12 month low of $44.23 and a 12 month high of $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.65 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.15.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.33. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The company had revenue of $593.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $562.77 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. Stepan’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stepan

In other Stepan news, Director Susan Lewis acquired 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,452.88. This represents a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 7.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.