Heartland Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Sensient Technologies Corporation $SXT

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Sensient Technologies Corporation (NYSE:SXT) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,854 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,738 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.17% of Sensient Technologies worth $6,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SXT. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its stake in Sensient Technologies by 146.2% during the 4th quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 293 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sensient Technologies by 313.5% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 306 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Sensient Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sensient Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 181.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 475 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.86% of the company’s stock.

Sensient Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SXT opened at $119.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 5.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31 and a beta of 0.80. Sensient Technologies Corporation has a 52 week low of $82.60 and a 52 week high of $129.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $108.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.18.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.24. Sensient Technologies had a net margin of 8.71% and a return on equity of 13.12%. The firm had revenue of $435.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $411.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sensient Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.700-3.90 EPS. Research analysts predict that Sensient Technologies Corporation will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Sensient Technologies’s payout ratio is 48.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sensient Technologies

In related news, VP Thierry Hoang sold 400 shares of Sensient Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.19, for a total value of $46,076.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 13,909 shares in the company, valued at $1,602,177.71. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SXT. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sensient Technologies from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Sensient Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Sensient Technologies from $115.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.00.

Sensient Technologies Profile

Sensient Technologies Corporation is a global leader in the manufacture and supply of colors, flavors and fragrances for a broad range of end-markets. The company develops and produces ingredients that enhance the appearance, taste and scent of products in the food, beverage, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, personal care and household sectors. Its portfolio includes natural and synthetic colorants, botanical and artificial flavor systems, fragrance compounds and specialty chemical offerings tailored to customer specifications.

Within its flavor and fragrance division, Sensient provides custom formulations for sweet, savory and umami taste profiles along with fragrance blends for personal care and cosmetic applications.