Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696,496 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 117,176 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Sensata Technologies were worth $19,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ST. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in Sensata Technologies in the third quarter worth $25,446,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Sensata Technologies by 18.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,895,776 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $139,703,000 after buying an additional 618,202 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Sensata Technologies in the third quarter worth $9,791,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Sensata Technologies by 66.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 660,568 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $23,688,000 after buying an additional 264,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Sensata Technologies in the fourth quarter worth $5,639,000. 99.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sensata Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:ST opened at $27.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.20. Sensata Technologies Holding plc has a 52-week low of $24.91 and a 52-week high of $43.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.93 and a 200 day moving average of $31.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.85.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Sensata Technologies had a return on equity of 17.54% and a net margin of 3.27%. On average, research analysts expect that Sensata Technologies Holding plc will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sensata Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. Sensata Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Sensata Technologies from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Sensata Technologies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Sensata Technologies from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Sensata Technologies from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.08.

Sensata Technologies Company 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.