BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $14.81 Million Stock Holdings in Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its position in shares of Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 184,547 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 21,741 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.44% of Sensient Technologies worth $14,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SXT. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Sensient Technologies during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sensient Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $72,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sensient Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth $129,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Sensient Technologies by 2,753.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,912 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 1,845 shares during the period. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Sensient Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.86% of the company’s stock.

Sensient Technologies Price Performance

Shares of SXT stock opened at $78.67 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.31. The company has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.64 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 3.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Sensient Technologies Co. has a twelve month low of $55.02 and a twelve month high of $82.99.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80. The company had revenue of $392.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $390.64 million. Sensient Technologies had a net margin of 5.80% and a return on equity of 11.41%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sensient Technologies Co. will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sensient Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th. Sensient Technologies’s payout ratio is 78.47%.

Insider Activity at Sensient Technologies

In other news, insider Michael C. Geraghty sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.48, for a total value of $321,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,518 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,938,968.64. This represents a 9.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SXT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Sensient Technologies from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Sensient Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

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.