Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Sensient Technologies from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

Sensient Technologies Price Performance

SXT stock traded up $1.66 during trading on Monday, hitting $79.21. The company had a trading volume of 155,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 174,589. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.44. Sensient Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $55.02 and a fifty-two week high of $82.99. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.90 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 3.74, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Sensient Technologies (NYSE:SXT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Sensient Technologies had a return on equity of 11.41% and a net margin of 5.80%. The firm had revenue of $392.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $390.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Sensient Technologies will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sensient Technologies

In related news, Director Gebhardt Deborah Mckeithan sold 2,000 shares of Sensient Technologies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.08, for a total value of $142,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,077,714.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,208,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $89,683,000 after purchasing an additional 39,290 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 541,998 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $40,211,000 after purchasing an additional 27,967 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 206,288 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $15,304,000 after purchasing an additional 5,400 shares during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 26.8% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 170,459 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,794,000 after purchasing an additional 35,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG boosted its stake in shares of Sensient Technologies by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 112,640 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $8,357,000 after purchasing an additional 12,150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.86% of the company's stock.

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.

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