Citigroup Inc. Lowers Stock Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Citigroup Inc. cut its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 25.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 207,528 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 71,060 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $21,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 4,011,307 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $381,917,000 after purchasing an additional 80,558 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,756,438 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $167,244,000 after buying an additional 123,693 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,498,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $157,271,000 after buying an additional 16,590 shares during the period. Albar Capital Ltd boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Albar Capital Ltd now owns 1,146,234 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $109,133,000 after buying an additional 485,433 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 757,899 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $79,526,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $297,086.50. This represents a 60.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on IFF. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Vertical Research raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $109.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.27.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

International Flavors & Fragrances stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $90.82. 1,035,775 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,677,531. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.93. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.94 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The company has a market capitalization of $23.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day moving average is $98.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.28.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -17.60%.

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.