Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $1.68 Million Position in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) by 2.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,305 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Sensient Technologies were worth $1,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SXT. Public Sector Pension Investment Board acquired a new stake in Sensient Technologies during the third quarter worth $3,054,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its stake in Sensient Technologies by 90.7% during the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 14,604 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $854,000 after buying an additional 6,945 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sensient Technologies by 9.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,325,028 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $311,408,000 after buying an additional 457,446 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in Sensient Technologies by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 9,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $633,000 after buying an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 21.9% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Sensient Technologies from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sensient Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 15th.

Sensient Technologies Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SXT traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $78.33. 122,154 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 152,928. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 4.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $75.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.49. Sensient Technologies Co. has a 52 week low of $52.90 and a 52 week high of $79.15.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last announced 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 return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 6.16%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sensient Technologies Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 6th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 3rd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Sensient Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.28%.

Insider Activity

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

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.