Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases New Stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 9,471 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $994,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at approximately $631,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 11,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,180,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 26.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 116,794 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $12,255,000 after buying an additional 24,747 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 45.4% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,789,000 after acquiring an additional 5,317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company's stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock traded down $0.08 on Friday, reaching $88.92. 992,336 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,681,603. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $96.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.74 billion, a PE ratio of -9.78, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.17. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.94 and a 1-year high of $106.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is currently -17.60%.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on IFF shares. Vertical Research raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.