Freemont Capital Pte Ltd Invests $449.29 Million in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

Freemont Capital Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,304,914 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $449,288,000. Sensient Technologies accounts for approximately 9.5% of Freemont Capital Pte Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd owned approximately 14.88% of Sensient Technologies as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SXT. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 309.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 77,260 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $6,197,000 after acquiring an additional 58,386 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 22.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,938 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,017,000 after acquiring an additional 18,235 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,164,000 after acquiring an additional 3,298 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in Sensient Technologies by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.86% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mario Ferruzzi sold 1,668 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $758,445.70. The trade was a 17.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SXT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Sensient Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Sensient Technologies from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Sensient Technologies Price Performance

SXT traded down $0.83 during trading on Monday, reaching $94.81. 332,848 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 217,610. The business's 50 day moving average price is $78.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 3.55 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25 and a beta of 0.58. Sensient Technologies Co. has a 1 year low of $66.15 and a 1 year high of $98.27.

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

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Sensient Technologies's payout ratio is 54.30%.

Sensient Technologies Company 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.