Hecla Mining vs Sensient Technologies
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The short version
- Sensient Technologies is the larger business, with $1.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.4B for Hecla Mining.
- Hecla Mining grew revenue faster (53.0%, against 3.5%).
- Hecla Mining kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (36.2% operating margin, against 12.9%).
- Hecla Mining turned more of its sales into free cash flow (21.8% FCF margin, against 2.4%).
- Hecla Mining earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (13.5%, against 8.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Sensient Technologies’s earnings: a P/E of 35.8x against 28.3x for Hecla Mining.
| Latest fiscal year | HL · FY25 | SXT · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $9.4B | $5.7B |
| Revenue | $1.4B | $1.6B |
| Free cash flow | $310M | $38.4M |
| Net income | $322M | $135M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 53.0% | 3.5% |
| 5-year growth | 15.5% | 3.9% |
| Share count change | 5.3% | 0.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 43.7% | 33.5% |
| Operating margin | 36.2% | 12.9% |
| Net margin | 22.6% | 8.3% |
| FCF margin | 21.8% | 2.4% |
| Return on capital | 13.5% | 8.9% |
| Return on equity | 13.9% | 11.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$18.7M | $673M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −0.0x | 2.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $11.3M | $69.6M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 28.3x | 35.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 8 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
HL $646M
SXT $1.4B
FY17
HL $578M
SXT $1.4B
FY18
HL $567M
SXT $1.4B
FY19
HL $673M
SXT $1.3B
FY20
HL $692M
SXT $1.3B
FY21
HL $808M
SXT $1.4B
FY22
HL $719M
SXT $1.4B
FY23
HL $720M
SXT $1.5B
FY24
HL $930M
SXT $1.6B
FY25
HL $1.4B
SXT $1.6B
HL
SXT
Operating margin
FY16
HL 16.9%
SXT 13.1%
FY17
HL 10.4%
SXT 12.0%
FY18
HL −6.9%
SXT 14.7%
FY19
HL −6.9%
SXT 9.2%
FY20
HL 9.7%
SXT 11.5%
FY21
HL 10.3%
SXT 12.3%
FY22
HL −1.7%
SXT 13.7%
FY23
HL −6.2%
SXT 10.6%
FY24
HL 11.4%
SXT 12.3%
FY25
HL 36.2%
SXT 12.9%
HL
SXT
Free cash flow
FY16
HL $60.5M
SXT $102M
FY17
HL $17.8M
SXT −$20.0M
FY18
HL −$42.7M
SXT $32.8M
FY19
HL −$0.6M
SXT $138M
FY20
HL $89.8M
SXT $167M
FY21
HL $111M
SXT $84.4M
FY22
HL −$59.5M
SXT −$67.3M
FY23
HL −$148M
SXT $81.8M
FY24
HL $3.8M
SXT $97.9M
FY25
HL $310M
SXT $38.4M
HL
SXT
Return on capital
FY16
HL 4.4%
SXT 9.5%
FY17
HL 2.7%
SXT 7.1%
FY18
HL −1.6%
SXT 11.8%
FY19
HL −1.7%
SXT 6.5%
FY20
HL 2.5%
SXT 8.3%
FY21
HL 4.0%
SXT 8.9%
FY22
HL −0.4%
SXT 10.0%
FY23
HL −1.4%
SXT 6.8%
FY24
HL 2.3%
SXT 8.8%
FY25
HL 13.5%
SXT 8.9%
HL
SXT
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.