Legal & General Group Plc Acquires Shares of 97,112 Sensient Technologies Corporation $SXT

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Sensient Technologies Corporation (NYSE:SXT) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 97,112 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,973,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mountaineer Partners Management LLC bought a new stake in Sensient Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $11,001,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Sensient Technologies by 26.4% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,777 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,784,000 after acquiring an additional 9,146 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in Sensient Technologies during the first quarter valued at $77,955,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Sensient Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $962,000. Finally, Owls Nest Partners IA LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sensient Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $19,297,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.86% of the company’s stock.

Sensient Technologies Price Performance

Sensient Technologies stock opened at $134.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 4.39 and a quick ratio of 1.72. Sensient Technologies Corporation has a 1 year low of $82.60 and a 1 year high of $138.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $124.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.58.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.17. Sensient Technologies had a net margin of 9.27% and a return on equity of 13.77%. The business had revenue of $462.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $448.84 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sensient Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Sensient Technologies Corporation will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Sensient Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SXT. Zacks Research raised shares of Sensient Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sensient Technologies from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Sensient Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Sensient Technologies from $143.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Sensient Technologies from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $140.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sensient Technologies news, Director Mario Ferruzzi sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.48, for a total value of $155,376.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $951,936.96. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Sensient Technologies Company Profile

Sensient Technologies Corporation is a global leader in the manufacture and supply of colors, flavors and fragrances for a broad range of end-markets. The company develops and produces ingredients that enhance the appearance, taste and scent of products in the food, beverage, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, personal care and household sectors. Its portfolio includes natural and synthetic colorants, botanical and artificial flavor systems, fragrance compounds and specialty chemical offerings tailored to customer specifications.

Within its flavor and fragrance division, Sensient provides custom formulations for sweet, savory and umami taste profiles along with fragrance blends for personal care and cosmetic applications.