Bank of America Corp DE Increases Stake in Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL)

Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) by 119.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,448 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 65,099 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.53% of Stepan worth $9,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Stepan by 101.0% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 3,031 shares during the period. Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Stepan by 1.8% in the first quarter. Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC now owns 1,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Stepan by 16.3% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 84,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after buying an additional 11,875 shares during the period. Personal Capital Advisors Corp increased its position in shares of Stepan by 7.2% in the first quarter. Personal Capital Advisors Corp now owns 145,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,326,000 after buying an additional 9,850 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Stepan by 1.9% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 62.22% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stepan Company (NYSE SCL) traded up 0.41% during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.51. The stock had a trading volume of 46,597 shares. Stepan Company has a one year low of $63.99 and a one year high of $92.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $87.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.08.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $495.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.35 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 14.95% and a net margin of 4.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Stepan Company will post $4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 31st will be issued a $0.205 dividend. This represents a $0.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.52%.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: “[[title]]” was originally posted by [[site]] and is the sole property of of [[site]]. If you are reading this piece on another publication, it was illegally copied and republished in violation of US and international copyright & trademark law. The original version of this piece can be accessed at [[permalink]].

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SCL. BidaskClub raised Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 10th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Stepan from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 27th. Wellington Shields cut Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. National Bank Financial reduced their price objective on Stepan from $40.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Finally, ValuEngine upgraded Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

In other Stepan news, Chairman F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 14,348 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total transaction of $1,225,893.12. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 145,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,467,319.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,381 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.15, for a total value of $458,192.15. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 141,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,087,212.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,348 shares of company stock worth $2,504,778 in the last ninety days. 13.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Stepan

Stepan Company produces specialty and intermediate chemicals, which are sold to other manufacturers and used in a range of end products. The Company operates through three segments: Surfactants, Polymers and Specialty Products. The Company’s principal markets include manufacturers of cleaning and washing compounds (including detergents, shampoos, fabric softeners, toothpastes and household cleaners), paints, cosmetics, food, beverages, nutritional supplements, agricultural products and plastics.