Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Raises Stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,366,218 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,442 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $115,514,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,102,363,000 after acquiring an additional 196,696 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,008,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $628,341,000 after purchasing an additional 77,521 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $464,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,414 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,498,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $157,271,000 after buying an additional 16,590 shares during the period. Finally, Albar Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 73.5% in the second quarter. Albar Capital Ltd now owns 1,146,234 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $109,133,000 after buying an additional 485,433 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on IFF. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Argus raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $107.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.23.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In related news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total value of $458,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $297,086.50. This represents a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IFF opened at $85.55 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.87 billion, a PE ratio of -9.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.18. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.94 and a 1-year high of $106.77. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $95.39.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 20.33%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -17.60%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic active and natural health ingredients for use in various consumer products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent, and Pharma Solutions.