FIL Ltd Raises Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 102.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 653,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 330,981 shares during the period. FIL Ltd owned 0.26% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $55,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter valued at about $452,363,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in 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 valued at $464,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,595,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $219,417,000 after acquiring an additional 433,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 635,598 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $53,740,000 after purchasing an additional 266,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IFF shares. Cfra cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $77.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $99.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.69.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF stock traded down $0.68 on Tuesday, hitting $72.80. The company had a trading volume of 369,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,243. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.85 and a twelve month high of $106.77. The firm has a market cap of $18.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is presently 170.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, Director Kevin O'byrne bought 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc engages in the manufacture and supply of flavors and fragrances used in the food, beverage, personal care, and household products industries. It operates through the following segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent and Pharma Solutions. The Nourish segment consists of legacy Taste segment combined with N&B's Food & Beverage division and the food protection business of N&B's Health & Biosciences division.