State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Increases Stock Position in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its position in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 743 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury’s holdings in Sensient Technologies were worth $1,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SXT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Sensient Technologies by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,938 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,017,000 after buying an additional 18,235 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 55,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 6,624 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Sensient Technologies by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 185,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,218,000 after purchasing an additional 7,148 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sensient Technologies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 215,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,385,000 after purchasing an additional 6,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 24,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,742,000 after buying an additional 6,247 shares in the last quarter. 90.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sensient Technologies Stock Performance

Sensient Technologies stock opened at $94.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.99 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.16. Sensient Technologies Co. has a 1-year low of $66.15 and a 1-year high of $94.73.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last posted its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $392.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.70 million. Sensient Technologies had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 8.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Sensient Technologies Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Sensient Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SXT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sensient Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Sensient Technologies from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday.

About Sensient Technologies

Sensient Technologies Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and markets colors, flavors, and other specialty ingredients in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, South America, and Africa. The company offers flavor-delivery systems, and compounded and blended products; ingredient products, such as essential oils, natural and synthetic flavors, and natural extracts; and chili powder, paprika, and chili pepper, as well as dehydrated vegetables comprising parsley, celery, and spinach to the food, beverage, and personal care industries.