Stepan Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.39 (NYSE:SCL)

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.385 per share by the basic materials company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd.

Stepan has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 57 years. Stepan has a payout ratio of 32.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Stepan to earn $3.55 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.54 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.4%.

Stepan Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of SCL stock traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $63.94. 113,258 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 124,893. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.27. Stepan has a fifty-two week low of $59.55 and a fifty-two week high of $94.76.

Stepan (NYSE:SCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The basic materials company reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.33). Stepan had a return on equity of 4.56% and a net margin of 2.10%. The company had revenue of $525.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $520.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Stepan will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Stepan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

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.