Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.41

Sensient Technologies Co. (NYSE:SXT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.41 per share by the specialty chemicals company on Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 4th.

Sensient Technologies has increased its dividend by an average of 1.7% annually over the last three years. Sensient Technologies has a dividend payout ratio of 48.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Sensient Technologies Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SXT traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 112,972 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,667. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $76.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.30. Sensient Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $55.02 and a fifty-two week high of $82.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.02 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 4.16.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 25th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $392.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $390.64 million. Sensient Technologies had a return on equity of 11.25% and a net margin of 5.83%. The company's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Sensient Technologies will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective 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 downgraded Sensient Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sensient Technologies news, Director Gebhardt Deborah Mckeithan sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.08, for a total transaction of $142,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 15,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,077,714.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Sensient Technologies

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.