Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Short Interest Down 37.2% in February

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 256,600 shares, a decline of 37.2% from the January 31st total of 408,600 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 123,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th.

Insider Activity at Stepan

In other Stepan news, Director Susan Lewis purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $120,452.88. This represents a 35.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stepan

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 7,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 8,190 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 8,085 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 6.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 13,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of Stepan by 13.7% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 25,502 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 3,073 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Stepan during the third quarter valued at $200,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stepan Stock Up 0.3 %

SCL opened at $61.68 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $63.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.96. 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 company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.91 and a beta of 0.84. Stepan has a one year low of $59.55 and a one year high of $94.76.

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

Stepan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Stepan’s payout ratio is 69.68%.

About Stepan

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.