<div id="readability-page-1"><p>American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of  Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL - Free Report) by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 540,953 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,824 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 2.39% of Stepan worth $29,525,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.</p><ul><li>3 chemical stocks to play the industry breakout</li></ul><p>Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in  Stepan by 10.6% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 109,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 10,464 shares in the last quarter.  Grace &amp; White Inc. NY raised its holdings in  Stepan by 6.2% during the second quarter. Grace &amp; White Inc. NY now owns 143,363 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $7,825,000 after purchasing an additional 8,350 shares in the last quarter.  Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of  Stepan by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,336,855 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $72,966,000 after buying an additional 83,941 shares during the last quarter.  Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of  Stepan by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 426,421 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $23,470,000 after buying an additional 23,022 shares during the last quarter.  Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of  Stepan by 60.8% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,773 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 2,560 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own  82.70% of the company's stock. </p><h2>Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth</h2><p>Several equities research analysts recently commented on SCL shares. Weiss Ratings  reiterated a &#34;sell (d+)&#34; rating on shares of Stepan in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Zacks Research raised Stepan from a &#34;strong sell&#34; rating to a &#34;hold&#34; rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. One equities research analyst  has rated the stock with a Hold rating and one  has issued  a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stepan currently has a consensus rating of &#34;Reduce&#34;.</p><p><b>Get Our Latest Research Report on Stepan</b></p><h2>Stepan Trading Down 0.2%</h2><p>Shares of Stepan stock opened at $45.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.89 and a beta of 0.99. Stepan Company has a 1 year low of $41.82 and a 1 year high of $77.76. The company's fifty day moving average is $45.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.63. </p><p>Stepan (NYSE:SCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.12. Stepan had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 3.70%. The business had revenue of $590.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $593.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year.  Analysts forecast that  Stepan Company will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year. </p><h2>Stepan Increases Dividend</h2><p>The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a dividend of $0.395 per share. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. This is a positive change from Stepan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. Stepan's payout ratio is 79.80%. </p><h2>Stepan Profile</h2> (Free Report)<p>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.</p><h2>Featured Articles</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Stepan</li><li>How to Capture the Benefits of Dividend Increases</li><li>Worried About Inflation? These 3 ETFs Offer Real Protection</li><li>Conference Calls and Individual Investors</li><li>Intel’s Black Friday Breakout: Apple Rumors Fuel a Holiday Rally</li><li>Asset Allocation: The Key to a Successful Portfolio. Are You Paying Attention to Yours?</li><li>Klarna's Crypto Play: A Plan to Fix Its Profit Problem</li></ul><p><strong>Want to see what other hedge funds are holding SCL?</strong> Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Stepan Company (NYSE:SCL - Free Report).</p><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPVNDTA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="350" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/SECFilingChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5ZU0UmU3ltYm9sPVNDTA"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Stepan Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Stepan, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Stepan wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Stepan currently has a Reduce rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

<p>American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Stepan Company by 9.5% in Q2, owning 540,953 shares valued at $29.5 million. Other institutional investors also adjusted their holdings, with significant increases by Jacobs Levy Equity Management, Grace & White Inc., and Westwood Holdings Group. Stepan's stock has a consensus rating of 'Reduce' and recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.395 per share. The company operates in surfactants, polymers, and specialty products segments.</p>

Stepan Company $SCL Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.