Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 526 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 526 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.05% of Stepan worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 409.2% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 92,053 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,111,000 after purchasing an additional 73,976 shares during the period. Southernsun Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Stepan by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southernsun Asset Management LLC now owns 309,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,905,000 after acquiring an additional 30,703 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Stepan by 177.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,460,000 after acquiring an additional 28,655 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Stepan by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 321,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,794,000 after purchasing an additional 23,855 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Stepan by 19.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,031,000 after purchasing an additional 23,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.70% of the company’s stock.

Stepan Trading Down 6.0 %

NYSE:SCL opened at $58.08 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.84. Stepan has a fifty-two week low of $57.93 and a fifty-two week high of $94.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.28 and a beta of 0.84.

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

Stepan Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Stepan’s payout ratio is presently 69.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Susan Lewis bought 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,452.88. The trade was a 35.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.