SENSIENT TECHNOLOGIES CORP
SXT · Industrial Organic Chemicals · 42.6M shares · -0%/yr ↓ buyback · EDGAR filings ↗
Net buyback after stock comp: $34M (gross $43M, SBC $9M)
Reference price $115.19 · est. market cap ~$4.9B — last insider sale, 2026-05-18 (estimated from the dated SEC Form 4 price × shares outstanding — not a live quote)
Grade
B77Sensient is an above-average specialty colors-and-flavors maker with strong margins, top-decile ROA and steady growth.
Strengths
- Top-decile ROA (91.3th pct) with high net (88.2th) and operating (84.2th) margins; revenue +3.5% and net income +7.9%
- Sticky, formulation-based specialty-ingredient franchise with good liquidity and interest coverage (77th)
Risks
- Moderate ROE (~11.3%, 52nd pct) and elevated leverage (debt/equity 78.6th); thin reported FCF margin
- Ongoing Portfolio Optimization restructuring costs and raw-material/FX exposure
Notable findings
- Insider sellingInsider selling — 4 open-market sale(s) by 3 insider(s) (cluster of 3 insiders, ~$233M, last 6mo) Form 4 ↗
Quarterly revenue
Last 4 quarters · from SEC filings.
Key metrics
Gross margin
33.5%
Operating margin
12.8%
Net margin
8.3%
Return on equity
11.3%
Return on assets
6.0%
ROIC
8.6%
Revenue growth (QoQ)
10.8%
Net-income growth
7.9%
Debt / equity
0.6×
Net debt / EBITDA
2.5×
Interest coverage
7.0×
Current ratio
4.1×
Free cash flow
$38M
EBITDA
$268M
Tangible book value
$744M
Cash & investments
$37M
Stock comp / revenue
0.9%
Insider transactions · last 18 months
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-18 | Hoang Thierry | Sell | 400 | $115.19 |
| 2026-05-04 | Hoang Thierry | Sell | 439 | $114.15 |
| 2026-04-30 | Winder Pte. Ltd. | Sell | 2.1M | $109.69 |
| 2026-04-30 | Morris Steven B | Sell | 200 | $114.58 |
| 2026-04-23 | Bruggeman Brett W | Tax withheld | 283 | $99.23 |
| 2026-04-23 | Carleone Joseph | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2026-04-23 | Ferruzzi Mario | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2026-04-23 | Jackson Carol R | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2026-04-23 | Jackson Carol R | Tax withheld | 674 | $99.23 |
| 2026-04-23 | Jain Sharad P | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2026-04-23 | MORRISON SCOTT C | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2026-04-23 | MORRISON SCOTT C | Tax withheld | 674 | $99.23 |
| 2026-04-23 | WHITELAW ESSIE | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2026-04-23 | WHITELAW ESSIE | Tax withheld | 674 | $99.23 |
| 2026-04-23 | Ferruzzi Mario | Tax withheld | 674 | $99.23 |
| 2026-04-23 | LANDRY DONALD W | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2026-04-23 | LANDRY DONALD W | Tax withheld | 674 | $99.23 |
| 2026-04-23 | Bruggeman Brett W | Grant | 1.1K | — |
| 2026-03-02 | Morris Steven B | Tax withheld | 373 | $100.58 |
| 2026-03-02 | Vanderleest Adam | Tax withheld | 133 | $100.58 |
| 2026-02-12 | Geraghty Michael C | Option exercise | 4.9K | — |
| 2026-02-12 | Geraghty Michael C | Tax withheld | 2.5K | $97.93 |
| 2026-02-12 | Hoang Thierry | Option exercise | 1.3K | — |
| 2026-02-12 | Jones Amy Schmidt | Option exercise | 3.4K | — |
| 2026-02-12 | Jones Amy Schmidt | Tax withheld | 1.7K | $97.93 |
| 2026-02-12 | Manning John J | Option exercise | 4.0K | — |
| 2026-02-12 | Manning John J | Tax withheld | 2.0K | $97.93 |
| 2026-02-12 | Manning Paul | Option exercise | 30K | — |
| 2026-02-12 | Manning Paul | Tax withheld | 15K | $97.93 |
| 2026-02-12 | Tornehl Tobin | Option exercise | 1.5K | — |
| 2026-02-12 | Tornehl Tobin | Tax withheld | 751 | $97.93 |
| 2025-12-17 | Geraghty Michael C | Grant | 3.4K | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Hoang Thierry | Grant | 953 | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Jones Amy Schmidt | Grant | 2.3K | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Manning John J | Grant | 2.8K | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Manning Paul | Grant | 20K | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Morris Steven B | Grant | 1.8K | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Plautz David J. | Grant | 414 | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Tornehl Tobin | Grant | 2.9K | — |
| 2025-12-17 | Vanderleest Adam | Grant | 570 | — |
| 2025-12-08 | Manning Paul | Tax withheld | 12K | $90.02 |
| 2025-12-08 | Tornehl Tobin | Tax withheld | 586 | $90.02 |
| 2025-12-08 | Manning John J | Tax withheld | 1.6K | $90.02 |
| 2025-12-08 | Jones Amy Schmidt | Tax withheld | 1.3K | $90.02 |
| 2025-12-08 | Geraghty Michael C | Tax withheld | 1.9K | $90.02 |
| 2025-12-03 | WHITELAW ESSIE | Sell | 4.0K | $95.02 |
| 2025-11-20 | WHITELAW ESSIE | Sell | 533 | $93.22 |
| 2025-11-04 | Plautz David J. | Buy | 2.1K | $92.98 |
| 2025-11-03 | Carleone Joseph | Buy | 1.0K | $91.26 |
| 2025-08-11 | Manning Paul | Buy | 20 | $116.94 |
| 2025-08-06 | Jain Sharad P | Sell | 1 | $114.14 |
| 2025-05-09 | Ferruzzi Mario | Sell | 1.7K | $95.45 |
| 2025-04-24 | Jackson Carol R | Tax withheld | 619 | $80.14 |
| 2025-04-24 | Jain Sharad P | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-04-24 | LANDRY DONALD W | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-04-24 | LANDRY DONALD W | Tax withheld | 619 | $80.14 |
| 2025-04-24 | McKeithan Gebhardt Deborah | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-04-24 | McKeithan Gebhardt Deborah | Tax withheld | 546 | $80.14 |
| 2025-04-24 | MORRISON SCOTT C | Tax withheld | 619 | $80.14 |
| 2025-04-24 | WHITELAW ESSIE | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-04-24 | WHITELAW ESSIE | Tax withheld | 619 | $80.14 |
| 2025-04-24 | MORRISON SCOTT C | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-04-24 | Bruggeman Brett W | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-04-24 | Bruggeman Brett W | Tax withheld | 168 | $80.14 |
| 2025-04-24 | Carleone Joseph | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-04-24 | Ferruzzi Mario | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-04-24 | Ferruzzi Mario | Tax withheld | 619 | $80.14 |
| 2025-04-24 | Jackson Carol R | Grant | 1.4K | — |
| 2025-03-03 | Vanderleest Adam | Tax withheld | 60 | $68.71 |
| 2025-03-03 | Morris Steven B | Tax withheld | 324 | $68.71 |
| 2025-02-13 | Tornehl Tobin | Option exercise | 1.2K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Tornehl Tobin | Tax withheld | 620 | $77.00 |
| 2025-02-13 | Manning Paul | Option exercise | 27K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Manning Paul | Tax withheld | 13K | $77.00 |
| 2025-02-13 | Manning John J | Option exercise | 3.3K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Manning John J | Tax withheld | 1.7K | $77.00 |
| 2025-02-13 | Jones Amy Schmidt | Option exercise | 2.9K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Jones Amy Schmidt | Tax withheld | 1.4K | $77.00 |
| 2025-02-13 | Hoang Thierry | Option exercise | 993 | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Geraghty Michael C | Option exercise | 4.0K | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Geraghty Michael C | Tax withheld | 2.0K | $77.00 |
| 2025-02-13 | Agallar Amy M | Option exercise | 930 | — |
| 2025-02-13 | Agallar Amy M | Tax withheld | 465 | $77.00 |
All non-derivative Form 4 activity (SEC), newest first.
Notable events (8-K)
| Date | Items | |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-23 | Material agreementDebt obligationExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-04-28 | Shareholder vote | filing ↗ |
| 2026-04-24 | ResultsReg FDExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2026-02-13 | ResultsReg FDExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2025-12-09 | 5.03Exhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2025-10-31 | ResultsReg FDExhibits | filing ↗ |
| 2025-09-19 | Exec/director change | filing ↗ |
| 2025-08-12 | Reg FDExhibits | filing ↗ |
Recent filings
| Form | Filed | Period | Accession |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-K | 2026-06-23 | 2026-06-18 | 0001140361-26-026110 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2026-05-05 | 2026-03-31 | 0001140361-26-019060 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-04-28 | 2026-04-23 | 0001140361-26-017292 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-04-24 | 2026-04-24 | 0001140361-26-016575 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2026-02-13 | 2026-02-13 | 0001140361-26-005177 ↗ |
| 10-K | 2026-02-13 | 2025-12-31 | 0001140361-26-005311 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-12-09 | 2025-12-04 | 0001140361-25-045036 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2025-11-04 | 2025-09-30 | 0001140361-25-040284 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-10-31 | 2025-10-31 | 0001140361-25-039932 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-09-19 | 2025-09-15 | 0001140361-25-035597 ↗ |
| 8-K | 2025-08-12 | 2025-08-12 | 0001140361-25-030591 ↗ |
| 10-Q | 2025-08-05 | 2025-06-30 | 0001140361-25-028777 ↗ |