Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Sensient Technologies from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th.

Sensient Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:SXT opened at $75.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 4.31 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $73.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.92. Sensient Technologies has a 1-year low of $52.90 and a 1-year high of $78.77.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $384.67 million during the quarter. Sensient Technologies had a net margin of 6.16% and a return on equity of 11.40%. Equities research analysts forecast that Sensient Technologies will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th were given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Sensient Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 76.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sensient Technologies

In other news, Director Essie Whitelaw sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.84, for a total transaction of $45,504.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655,283.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Essie Whitelaw sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.84, for a total transaction of $45,504.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,655,283.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven B. Morris sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.97, for a total transaction of $29,188.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $297,863.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,037 shares of company stock valued at $153,245 over the last 90 days. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sensient Technologies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,389,711 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $355,721,000 after buying an additional 64,683 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Sensient Technologies by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,688,101 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,617,000 after purchasing an additional 303,612 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Sensient Technologies by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,161,451 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $76,657,000 after purchasing an additional 129,386 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Sensient Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,188,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Sensient Technologies by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 545,922 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,031,000 after purchasing an additional 32,006 shares during the last quarter. 90.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.