Stocks · Basic Materials · Chemicals - Specialty
Sensient Technologies Corporation SXT
$128.59 +0.13% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $5.47B
Strong trendLow risk
Next earnings report: Oct 30, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 113 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
- The shares trade at 34.7× trailing earnings, higher than 81% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $1.70B, up 8.1% from a year earlier, accelerating from 5.8% a quarter earlier.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Basic Materials sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth53Neutral
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 41%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Top 39%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 15%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 29%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 42%
Quality44Weak
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 36%
- Gross marginTop 32%
- Operating marginTop 31%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 11%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 9%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 32%
- Interest coverTop 38%
Value27Very weak
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 47%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 32%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 34%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 28%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 26%
Momentum95Exceptional
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 21%
- 6-month returnTop 6%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 17%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 5%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 25%
Revisions69Positive
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersTop 26%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 32%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 31%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 14%
Stability86Strong
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 16%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 9%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 22%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 32%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 5.8% | 8.1% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 12.3% | 17.0% | ↑ |
| Gross margin | 33.3% | 34.6% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 12.9% | 14.0% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 4.0% | 0.3% | ↓ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 8.1% | 5.8% | ↑ | Top 41% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | 17.0% | 12.3% | ↑ | Top 39% |
| Gross margin | 34.6% | 33.3% | ↑ | Top 32% |
| Operating margin | 14.0% | 12.9% | ↑ | Top 31% |
| Net margin | 9.3% | 8.6% | ↑ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 0.3% | 4.0% | ↓ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 8.6% | — | Top 36% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 3.9% | — | Top 29% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 0.78×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- 1.5%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 1.0%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +4.6 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.71×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 7.7×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 1.27%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.00%
- Shareholder yield
- 1.27%
- Share count change, 1 year
- +0.5%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- +0.4%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 4, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 2
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 6 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +15.3%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +5.2%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 5 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $140.67
- Target vs current price
- +9.4%
- Analysts with a rating
- 12
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 67%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | +16.5% | +8.3% | +5.9% | +13.3% | — |
| Apr 24, 2026 | +30.0% | +24.1% | +14.5% | +14.0% | +9.8% |
| Feb 13, 2026 | -7.7% | -5.0% | -7.6% | -9.0% | +19.8% |
| Oct 31, 2025 | +22.3% | +5.1% | +2.5% | +8.6% | +5.9% |
| Jul 25, 2025 | +6.8% | +3.0% | +2.1% | +4.0% | -12.9% |
| Apr 25, 2025 | +4.9% | +13.5% | +15.6% | +17.1% | +34.6% |
| Feb 14, 2025 | +1.6% | -7.5% | -10.1% | -4.8% | +23.3% |
| Oct 25, 2024 | +0.0% | +0.1% | -2.6% | -0.4% | -1.5% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 2026 | $1.20 | $1.03 | +16.5% | $462.1M |
| Apr 24, 2026 | $1.04 | $0.80 | +30.0% | $435.8M |
| Feb 13, 2026 | $0.72 | $0.78 | -7.7% | $393.4M |
| Oct 31, 2025 | $0.96 | $0.79 | +22.3% | $412.1M |
| Jul 25, 2025 | $0.94 | $0.88 | +6.8% | $414.2M |
| Apr 25, 2025 | $0.86 | $0.82 | +4.9% | $392.3M |
| Feb 14, 2025 | $0.65 | $0.64 | +1.6% | $376.4M |
| Oct 25, 2024 | $0.80 | $0.80 | +0.0% | $392.6M |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 34.7× | 29.4× | 81th | Top 47% |
| P/E (forward) | 30.7× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 23.0× | — | — | Bottom 34% |
| EV / Sales | 3.64× | — | — | Bottom 28% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 0.08% | — | — | Bottom 32% |
| Earnings yield | 2.89% | — | — | Top 47% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 19.0× – 36.6× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +40.5%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- +17.0%
- Change in P/E multiple
- -4.9%
Most of the move came from earnings growth.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 113
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +4.0%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +3.3%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -1.4%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +16.7%
- RSI (14)
- 46.0
- Relative volume
- 0.84×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 28.8%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 62th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.70
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.27
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -6.4%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -31.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 16, 2021 | Oct 13, 2023 | -49.5% | 479 days | 430 days (Jul 3, 2025) |
| Aug 13, 2025 | Mar 20, 2026 | -31.3% | 151 days | 24 days (Apr 24, 2026) |
| Apr 27, 2026 | Jul 21, 2026 | -12.6% | 58 days | 3 days (Jul 24, 2026) |
| Jun 8, 2021 | Jul 19, 2021 | -11.3% | 28 days | 36 days (Sep 8, 2021) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $5.47B
- P/E (TTM)
- 34.7
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $3.71
- Revenue (TTM)
- $1.70B
- Dividend yield
- 1.28%
- 52-week range
- $82.60 – $138.82
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.38B | $1.44B | $1.46B | $1.56B | $1.61B |
| Gross profit | $454.7M | $489.1M | $460.3M | $507.1M | $539.3M |
| Operating income | $170.2M | $196.8M | $155.0M | $191.6M | $207.1M |
| Net income | $118.7M | $140.9M | $93.4M | $124.7M | $134.5M |
| EPS (diluted) | $2.81 | $3.34 | $2.21 | $2.94 | $3.16 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $392.6M | $376.4M | $392.3M | $414.2M | $412.1M | $393.4M | $435.8M | $462.1M |
| Net income | $32.7M | $30.1M | $34.5M | $37.6M | $37.0M | $25.5M | $44.2M | $51.4M |
| EPS (diluted) | $0.77 | $0.71 | $0.81 | $0.88 | $0.87 | $0.60 | $1.04 | $1.20 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $145.2M | $12.1M | $169.7M | $157.2M | $127.8M |
| Capital expenditure | -$60.8M | -$79.3M | -$87.9M | -$59.2M | -$89.4M |
| Free cash flow | $84.4M | -$67.3M | $81.8M | $97.9M | $38.4M |
| Dividends paid | -$66.7M | -$68.9M | -$69.2M | -$69.2M | -$69.6M |
| Net share buybacks | -$42.5M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $31.0M
- Total assets
- $2.37B
- Total liabilities
- $1.11B
- Total debt
- $763.9M
- Net debt
- $732.9M
- Shareholders’ equity
- $1.26B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 4, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 2026 | $0.41 | Sep 1, 2026 |
| May 11, 2026 | $0.41 | Jun 1, 2026 |
| Feb 3, 2026 | $0.41 | Mar 2, 2026 |
| Nov 10, 2025 | $0.41 | Dec 1, 2025 |
| Aug 4, 2025 | $0.41 | Sep 2, 2025 |
| May 12, 2025 | $0.41 | Jun 2, 2025 |
| Feb 4, 2025 | $0.41 | Mar 3, 2025 |
| Nov 4, 2024 | $0.41 | Dec 2, 2024 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 1,551,229
- Days to cover
- 4.89
- Change vs previous report
- -2.3%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- May 26, 1998
- 2-for-1
- Oct 16, 1989
- 3-for-2
- Oct 11, 1988
- 3-for-2
- Aug 8, 1986
- 3-for-2
- Nov 17, 1978
- 3-for-2