Stepan (SCL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.39 on March 14th

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.385 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd.

Stepan has raised its dividend by an average of 6.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 57 years. Stepan has a dividend payout ratio of 32.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Stepan to earn $4.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.2%.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of SCL stock opened at $63.94 on Friday. Stepan has a 52 week low of $59.55 and a 52 week high of $94.76. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last posted its 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 firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stepan will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stepan from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday.

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.