Dean Investment Associates LLC Acquires 6,784 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Dean Investment Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,059 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,784 shares during the quarter. Dean Investment Associates LLC's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $4,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at about $452,363,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 31,437,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,658,063,000 after purchasing an additional 3,355,381 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $478,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,629 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $464,926,000 after buying an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 433,048 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, Director Kevin O'byrne purchased 6,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE IFF traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $73.33. The stock had a trading volume of 3,005,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,530,828. The firm has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.85 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $78.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.35.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last issued 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. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is 170.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on IFF. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho cut their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $76.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.69.

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.