Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 429,000 shares, an increase of 23.5% from the December 15th total of 347,300 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 111,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

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 Tuesday.

Stepan Stock Up 0.3 %

SCL traded up $0.20 on Friday, hitting $63.77. 107,577 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 106,589. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $70.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Stepan has a twelve month low of $59.70 and a twelve month high of $95.33. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73 and a beta of 0.84.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.38. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The business had revenue of $546.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.385 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This is an increase from Stepan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stepan

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCL. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Stepan by 3,053.3% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Stepan by 51.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 211,302 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,741,000 after buying an additional 71,431 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Stepan by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,279,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $107,421,000 after acquiring an additional 34,264 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Stepan in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,013,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Stepan by 48.4% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 1,517 shares in the last quarter. 82.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.