Quest Partners LLC Purchases 19,602 Shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 4,144.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,602 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Stepan were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Stepan by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Stepan by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 10,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 4,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings 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 valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in Stepan by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Stepan Price Performance

SCL opened at $75.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.47 and a beta of 0.81. Stepan has a 1 year low of $69.78 and a 1 year high of $96.68.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.38. Stepan had a net margin of 2.10% and a return on equity of 4.56%. The firm had revenue of $546.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Stepan will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is 74.63%.

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.