30,000 Shares in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. $IFF Purchased by Inspire Trust Co. N.A.

Key Points

• Inspire Trust Co. N.A. acquired 30,000 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF), valued at approximately $2.3 million, in the 1st quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on IFF, with a consensus target price of $92.36 and several price target adjustments reflecting uncertainty in the stock’s future performance.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, which will be paid on October 10th, representing a yield of 2.4%.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 30,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $2,328,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wahed Invest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 6,339 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Commerce Bank increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,141 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.3% during the first quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 6,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $515,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% in the first quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 46,234 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,588,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 15,450 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $64.80 per share, with a total value of $1,001,160.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,001,160. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin O'byrne acquired 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $76.05 per share, with a total value of $342,225.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 7,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $585,280.80. This trade represents a 140.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 35,250 shares of company stock worth $2,337,120 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $92.36.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE:IFF traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $65.34. 1,713,791 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,815,486. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.86. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.33 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $73.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.52.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.95% and a negative net margin of 3.48%. International Flavors & Fragrances's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is currently -103.23%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company 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.