WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases Shares of 23,936 Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in Stepan (NYSE:SCL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,549,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned approximately 0.11% of Stepan at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Stepan by 110.6% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Stepan by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Stepan by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 6,650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Stepan by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Stepan by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 20,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Stepan

In other Stepan news, Director Susan Lewis purchased 500 shares of Stepan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $63.53 per share, for a total transaction of $31,765.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,452.88. This trade represents a 35.82 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 6.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Stepan Stock Performance

SCL opened at $57.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.67. Stepan has a 52-week low of $56.20 and a 52-week high of $94.77. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Stepan Dividend Announcement

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

Stepan 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.