HighTower Advisors LLC Has $97.70 Million Stock Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 0.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,510,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 508 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Stepan worth $97,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCL. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 110.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings 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 worth $72,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Stepan in the third quarter worth about $161,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Stepan in the third quarter worth about $168,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Stepan during the third quarter worth approximately $170,000. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stepan Stock Performance

SCL stock opened at $57.21 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.02. Stepan has a 52 week low of $56.50 and a 52 week high of $94.76.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.33). The company had revenue of $525.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $520.97 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.21% and a net margin of 2.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stepan

In other Stepan news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,452.88. The trade was a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 7.00% 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.