Sensient Technologies Corporation $SXT Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Sensient Technologies Corporation (NYSE:SXT) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 67,784 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,070 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned 0.16% of Sensient Technologies worth $5,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SXT. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,010,258 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $94,930,000 after purchasing an additional 4,123 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Sensient Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $77,955,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in Sensient Technologies by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 734,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $69,013,000 after purchasing an additional 17,935 shares during the period. Snyder Capital Management L P boosted its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Snyder Capital Management L P now owns 695,170 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $65,311,000 after purchasing an additional 29,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 548,337 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,516,000 after purchasing an additional 21,217 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.86% of the company’s stock.

Sensient Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SXT opened at $108.74 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 5.01 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.57. Sensient Technologies Corporation has a 12 month low of $82.60 and a 12 month high of $129.35.

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

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given 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 1.5%. Sensient Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Thierry Hoang sold 439 shares of Sensient Technologies stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.15, for a total transaction of $50,111.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 14,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,633,372.35. The trade was a 2.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SXT shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on Sensient Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Sensient Technologies from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Sensient Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Sensient Technologies in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.