Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) Shares Bought by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) by 102.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,151 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.08% of Sensient Technologies worth $2,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 55,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after acquiring an additional 6,624 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 185,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,218,000 after purchasing an additional 7,148 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 215,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,385,000 after purchasing an additional 6,984 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 24,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 6,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 309.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 77,260 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,197,000 after purchasing an additional 58,386 shares during the last quarter. 90.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Sensient Technologies from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Sensient Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Sensient Technologies Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of SXT opened at $94.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 3.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 32.24 and a beta of 0.58. Sensient Technologies Co. has a fifty-two week low of $66.15 and a fifty-two week high of $98.27.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $392.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.70 million. Sensient Technologies had a return on equity of 11.93% and a net margin of 8.01%. Sensient Technologies’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Sensient Technologies Co. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Sensient Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sensient Technologies

In other news, Director Mario Ferruzzi sold 1,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.45, for a total transaction of $159,210.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,946 shares in the company, valued at $758,445.70. This represents a 17.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.