Stepan (NYSE:SCL) Declares $0.38 Quarterly Dividend

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 30th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of 0.375 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st.

Stepan has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 56 consecutive years. Stepan has a dividend payout ratio of 33.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Stepan to earn $4.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.1%.

Stepan Stock Performance

Shares of Stepan stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $83.54. 1,637 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 76,138. Stepan has a 1 year low of $63.60 and a 1 year high of $100.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.14 and a 200-day moving average of $86.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.36 and a beta of 0.83.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.29. Stepan had a return on equity of 4.20% and a net margin of 1.73%. The business had revenue of $551.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $575.83 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Stepan will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $455,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 255,567 shares in the company, valued at $23,274,486.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.07, for a total value of $455,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 255,567 shares in the company, valued at $23,274,486.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director F Quinn Stepan, Jr. sold 3,637 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.11, for a total value of $327,730.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 255,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,029,142.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,637 shares of company stock worth $957,940 over the last 90 days. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.