Portside Wealth Group LLC Makes New Investment in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,767 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,489 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,753 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Sensient Technologies by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,957,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 215,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $15,385,000 after purchasing an additional 6,984 shares in the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP increased its stake in Sensient Technologies by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Olympiad Research LP now owns 3,806 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $271,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG raised its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 34.9% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 158,329 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $11,283,000 after purchasing an additional 40,989 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SXT. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Sensient Technologies from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. CJS Securities initiated coverage on shares of Sensient Technologies in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Sensient Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd.

Sensient Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE SXT traded down $0.13 on Friday, reaching $94.60. The stock had a trading volume of 337,716 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,530. The stock has a market cap of $4.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.18 and a beta of 0.56. Sensient Technologies Co. has a 12-month low of $66.15 and a 12-month high of $98.27. The business's 50-day moving average price is $88.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 3.55.

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

Sensient Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Sensient Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mario Ferruzzi sold 1,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.45, for a total value of $159,210.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,946 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.