Swiss National Bank Acquires 500 Shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.17% of Sensient Technologies worth $5,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SXT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in Sensient Technologies by 66.7% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 58,643 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,704,000 after purchasing an additional 23,474 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Sensient Technologies by 135.8% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 23,059 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 13,279 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Sensient Technologies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $471,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Sensient Technologies by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 590,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,342,000 after buying an additional 7,235 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Sensient Technologies by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 86,390 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,909 shares in the last quarter. 90.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sensient Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of Sensient Technologies stock opened at $73.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96 and a beta of 0.71. Sensient Technologies Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $82.99.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 14th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.01. Sensient Technologies had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The business had revenue of $376.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $375.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sensient Technologies Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Sensient Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sensient Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday.

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.