Grace & White Inc. NY Grows Position in Stepan (NYSE:SCL)

Grace & White Inc. NY increased its position in shares of Stepan (NYSE:SCL) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 122,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,100 shares during the quarter. Stepan comprises approximately 2.0% of Grace & White Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Grace & White Inc. NY’s holdings in Stepan were worth $11,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,165,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,317,000 after purchasing an additional 162,560 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 323,931 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,285,000 after purchasing an additional 2,742 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Stepan by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 297,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,340,000 after purchasing an additional 14,267 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Stepan by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 278,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $20,894,000 after buying an additional 8,199 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Stepan by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 177,121 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,747,000 after buying an additional 1,547 shares during the period. 82.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stepan from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th.

Stepan Stock Performance

NYSE:SCL traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $85.25. 68,587 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 77,310. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.43 and a beta of 0.83. Stepan has a 52-week low of $63.60 and a 52-week high of $100.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $87.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.41.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $532.13 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $534.48 million. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.20% and a net margin of 1.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stepan will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Stepan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Stepan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 85.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.43, for a total value of $174,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 250,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,916,602.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.43, for a total value of $174,860.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 250,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,916,602.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 3,637 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.11, for a total transaction of $327,730.07. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 255,567 shares in the company, valued at $23,029,142.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,637 shares of company stock valued at $957,940. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

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.