Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. Invests $252,000 in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,535 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SXT. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. Versor Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 4,521 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 920 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Sensient Technologies by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,914 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Sensient Technologies

In related news, Director Mario Ferruzzi sold 1,668 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.45, for a total transaction of $159,210.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $758,445.70. This represents a 17.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SXT shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Sensient Technologies from $85.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com lowered Sensient Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 22nd.

Sensient Technologies Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE SXT traded up $0.35 on Tuesday, reaching $94.80. 204,280 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 221,261. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 3.55. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.63. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24 and a beta of 0.58. Sensient Technologies Co. has a 12 month low of $66.15 and a 12 month high of $98.27.

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

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

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

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.