Is SCL a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores Stepan Company on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how SCL compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is Stepan Company's AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to SCL based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes SCL a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

SCL - Stepan Company

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $75.00 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Stable Earnings Power

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

D 37.1 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for stable earnings power businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 20%

D- 28.5

5yr Avg ROIC 4.9% 35/100
Operating Margin Trend -1.29 pp/yr 14/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

C 53.6

5yr Avg ROE 6.8% 44/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -0.4% 71/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 15%

F 20.9

5yr Revenue CAGR -0.1% 20/100
5yr EPS CAGR -23.3% 0/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 3/5 60/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 15%

F 7.7

5yr FCF Margin -2.2% 14/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion -0.53x 0/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 20%

C 54.9

Net Debt / EBITDA 2.63x 57/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 3.28x 48/100
Altman Z-Score 2.56 59/100

Stability

Weight: 15%

C 55.0

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.39 44/100
Piotroski F-Score 6 67/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 2/5 60/100

3 of 3 gurus held; 3 trimmed.

Holders: 3
Avg Δ position: -48.9%
New buys: 0
Full exits: 0

Cooperman decreased -86%
Wood decreased -61%
Greenblatt decreased -0%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (20%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (15%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (15%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (20%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (15%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.