Soros Fund Management LLC Purchases New Stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Soros Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 22,581 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $2,369,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IFF. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 615,006 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $64,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,553 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $868,000. GM Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the second quarter valued at approximately $686,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 69.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,880,000 after acquiring an additional 23,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the first quarter worth $693,000. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

International Flavors & Fragrances stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.31. 361,294 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,662,893. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $96.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.93. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.94 and a 52-week high of $106.77. The company has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.82, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.62.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.46). International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 20.33%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. International Flavors & Fragrances's quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IFF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Vertical Research raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.00.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.