Arizona State Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

Arizona State Retirement System lessened its holdings in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 216 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Sensient Technologies were worth $780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Winder Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Sensient Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $368,711,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,325,028 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $311,408,000 after acquiring an additional 457,446 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Sensient Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,672,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,688,101 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $111,617,000 after acquiring an additional 303,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 84.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $24,142,000 after acquiring an additional 188,610 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.86% of the company’s stock.

Sensient Technologies Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE SXT opened at $67.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 3.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $67.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.73. Sensient Technologies Co. has a 52 week low of $52.90 and a 52 week high of $78.70.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.55 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $349.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $371.10 million. Sensient Technologies had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 6.41%. The company’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sensient Technologies Co. will post 2.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. Sensient Technologies’s payout ratio is 73.87%.

Sensient Technologies Profile

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.