BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Increases Stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 60.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,898 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 18,420 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $4,656,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,316,000. Clearfield Capital Management LP purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,771,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,733,402 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $140,355,000 after acquiring an additional 280,069 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 68,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,567,000 after acquiring an additional 2,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 77.3% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 31,629 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,561,000 after acquiring an additional 13,786 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on IFF shares. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Mizuho upgraded shares of 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $103.87.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE:IFF opened at $104.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.28 and a fifty-two week high of $105.30. The stock has a market cap of $26.78 billion, a PE ratio of -10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $100.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.33.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.15. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.63%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.23 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, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is presently -16.38%.

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.