State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 2,516 Shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,028 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,516 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Sensient Technologies were worth $2,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 21.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 303,612 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 14.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 217,644 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,728,000 after buying an additional 26,969 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 3.7% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 24,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after buying an additional 880 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 7.8% during the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 140,716 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,082,000 after buying an additional 10,225 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of Sensient Technologies during the third quarter valued at about $3,054,000. 90.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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.

Sensient Technologies Price Performance

Shares of SXT opened at $72.71 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 33.82 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 4.31. Sensient Technologies Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.90 and a fifty-two week high of $78.70. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.57.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $349.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $371.10 million. Sensient Technologies had a return on equity of 11.40% and a net margin of 6.16%. Sensient Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Sensient Technologies Co. will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 6th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 3rd. Sensient Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.28%.

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.