Renaissance Technologies LLC Raises Stake in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST) by 54.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 753,600 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 264,400 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.50% of Sensata Technologies worth $20,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Sensata Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $48,580,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 66.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 660,568 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $23,688,000 after acquiring an additional 264,334 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in Sensata Technologies by 94.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 213,624 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,853,000 after acquiring an additional 103,897 shares during the last quarter. Kempner Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sensata Technologies by 233.9% in the fourth quarter. Kempner Capital Management Inc. now owns 209,064 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,728,000 after purchasing an additional 146,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sensata Technologies by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,060,537 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,059,000 after purchasing an additional 19,233 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.42% of the company’s stock.

Sensata Technologies Price Performance

Sensata Technologies stock opened at $19.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.85. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.12. Sensata Technologies Holding plc has a 1 year low of $17.32 and a 1 year high of $43.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.44.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Sensata Technologies had a return on equity of 17.54% and a net margin of 3.27%. Sell-side analysts predict that Sensata Technologies Holding plc will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Sensata Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Sensata Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ST has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Sensata Technologies from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI lowered Sensata Technologies from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Sensata Technologies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $31.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Sensata Technologies from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.73.

Sensata Technologies Profile

Sensata Technologies Holding plc develops, manufactures, and sells sensors and sensor-rich solutions, electrical protection components and systems, and other products used in mission-critical systems and applications in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Performance Sensing and Sensing Solutions.