New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Stake in Sensient Technologies Corporation (NYSE:SXT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies Corporation (NYSE:SXT) by 7.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,965 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,700 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.13% of Sensient Technologies worth $4,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Sensient Technologies during the first quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 4.0% in the fourth 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. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 62,002 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Sensient Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $556,000. 90.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SXT. CJS Securities began coverage on Sensient Technologies in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Sensient Technologies from $93.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Sensient Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Sensient Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SXT opened at $107.90 on Monday. Sensient Technologies Corporation has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $108.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.73 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $95.98 and a 200 day moving average of $81.22.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $392.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $387.70 million. Sensient Technologies had a net margin of 8.19% and a return on equity of 12.14%. The company’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sensient Technologies Corporation will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Sensient Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mario Ferruzzi sold 1,668 shares of Sensient Technologies 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 transaction, the director directly owned 7,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $758,445.70. The trade was a 17.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.