Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 1,617 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 10.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,398 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,617 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.07% of Stepan worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in Stepan by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 6,606 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Stepan by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 12,865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Stepan by 781.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 617 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Stock Performance

SCL stock opened at $53.79 on Friday. Stepan has a one year low of $44.23 and a one year high of $94.77. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.34 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.96.

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

Stepan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Susan Lewis acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,452.88. This represents a 35.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

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.