Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $6.48 Million in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 90,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,483,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.21% of Sensient Technologies as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 3.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,694,114 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $135,902,000 after acquiring an additional 60,622 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 961,455 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,143,000 after acquiring an additional 15,868 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 601,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,830,000 after acquiring an additional 10,884 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 215,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,385,000 after acquiring an additional 6,984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG raised its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 158,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $11,283,000 after acquiring an additional 40,989 shares during the last quarter. 90.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sensient Technologies Stock Performance

Sensient Technologies stock opened at $72.75 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.16. Sensient Technologies Co. has a 52 week low of $66.15 and a 52 week high of $82.99. The company has a current ratio of 3.55, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $376.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $375.10 million. Sensient Technologies had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 8.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sensient Technologies Co. will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Sensient Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 55.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Sensient Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report 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.