Stepan Company (SCL) will raise its quarterly dividend by 7.9 percent to $0.205 per share in the fourth quarter of 2016. Stepan currently has an indicated dividend yield of 1.2%.

The next dividend is payable on December 15, 2016, to common stockholders of record on November 30, 2016. The increase marks the forty-ninth consecutive year in which the quarterly dividend rate on the Company's common stock has increased.

Stepan Company and its subsidiaries produce specialty and intermediate chemicals, which are sold to other manufacturers and used in a variety of end products. The Company has three reportable segments: Surfactants, Polymers and Specialty Products. Surfactants are the basic cleaning agent in detergents for washing clothes, dishes, carpets, fine fabrics, floors and walls and are also used in personal care products and commercial and industrial applications. Polymers are used in the manufacture of construction materials, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) applications. Specialty Products are chemicals used in food, flavoring, nutritional supplement and pharmaceutical applications. Stepan, headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, operates production facilities located in North and South America, Europe and Asia.