Erste Asset Management GmbH Makes New $631,000 Investment in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $631,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.1% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 11,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 26.9% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 116,794 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,255,000 after purchasing an additional 24,747 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 45.4% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,789,000 after buying an additional 5,317 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 14.3% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 11,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 13.5% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 146,017 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $15,322,000 after buying an additional 17,369 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IFF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group raised 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.00.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of IFF stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $89.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,093,850 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,668,516. The firm's 50-day moving average is $97.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.99. The company has a market cap of $22.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.82, a PEG ratio of 1.59 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 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 announced 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 business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $297,086.50. The trade was a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances 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.