BlackRock Inc. Takes $818.40 Million Position in Sensient Technologies Corporation $SXT

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 6.64 million shares of Sensient Technologies in the second quarter, worth approximately $818.4 million and representing a 15.6% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 90.86% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with Sensient carrying an average “Buy” rating and a $140 target price; UBS and Robert W. Baird recently raised their targets to $155 and $140, respectively.
• Sensient exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.20 EPS and $462.1 million in revenue, with revenue up 11.6% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, yielding about 1.2% annually.

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Sensient Technologies Corporation (NYSE:SXT - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,638,033 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $818,403,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 15.60% of Sensient Technologies at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sensient Technologies in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 313.5% in 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 period. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Sensient Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sensient Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Sensient Technologies by 53.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 401 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. 90.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SXT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Sensient Technologies from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Sensient Technologies from $143.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Sensient Technologies from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Sensient Technologies in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Finally, Zacks Research raised Sensient Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sensient Technologies currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $140.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Mario Ferruzzi sold 1,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.48, for a total transaction of $155,376.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,352 shares in the company, valued at $951,936.96. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sensient Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SXT opened at $134.38 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $122.09 and its 200 day moving average is $108.85. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22 and a beta of 0.78. Sensient Technologies Corporation has a 1-year low of $82.60 and a 1-year high of $136.58. The company has a current ratio of 4.39, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $462.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $448.84 million. Sensient Technologies had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 9.27%.Sensient Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sensient Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.100-4.200 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sensient Technologies Corporation will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sensient Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Sensient Technologies's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.20%.

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.

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