Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Stock Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $55.09 and traded as high as $63.05. Stepan shares last traded at $62.9780, with a volume of 242,225 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Stepan in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Stepan from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Stepan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stepan has a consensus rating of “Reduce”.

Stepan Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -514.88 and a beta of 0.94.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.57. The business had revenue of $684.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.85 million. Stepan had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 0.11%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Stepan Company will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.395 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Stepan’s payout ratio is currently -1,316.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stepan

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Stepan during the 2nd quarter valued at $192,698,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stepan by 5.2% in the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 947,452 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,354,000 after buying an additional 47,075 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 183,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,679,000 after buying an additional 2,547 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 124.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 174,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,715,000 after buying an additional 96,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 33.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 143,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,182,000 after buying an additional 36,386 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stepan Company Profile

Stepan Company is a global manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals. Founded in 1932 and headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, the company develops, manufactures and sells chemical products used by businesses in a range of consumer and industrial markets.

Its principal products include surfactants, which are used in detergents, cleaners, personal care products, agricultural formulations and food applications. Stepan also produces polyurethane polyols, specialty polymers and other chemical intermediates used in insulation, construction materials, automotive products, coatings, adhesives and other industrial applications.

Stepan serves customers across North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia through a network of manufacturing and research facilities.