Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 28,491 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $2,990,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at $19,813,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 172.3% in the 3rd quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 12,322 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,293,000 after purchasing an additional 7,797 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 62.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 156,318 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $16,402,000 after purchasing an additional 60,288 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 59.7% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 12,093 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 4,519 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter worth approximately $16,933,000. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $88.58. 939,213 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,660,313. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.94 and a 12 month high of $106.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.84. The company has a market capitalization of $22.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.17. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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 positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 20.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is currently -17.60%.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total value of $458,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at $297,086.50. The trade was a 60.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on IFF. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Vertical Research raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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, Barclays increased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.00.

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.