Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. has increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. by 2.1%, owning approximately $122.45 million worth of stock as of its latest SEC filing.
• CEO J Erik Fyrwald acquired 15,300 shares for nearly $994,000, marking a 24.65% increase in his position, while company insiders have bought a total of 52,100 shares in the last three months.
• International Flavors & Fragrances recently reported earnings of $1.15 per share, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,577,723 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,005 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.62% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $122,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 15,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 5,423 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 54.5% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 1,298 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter worth $327,000. Finally, Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 26,023 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,200,000 after buying an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J Erik Fyrwald bought 15,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $64.95 per share, for a total transaction of $993,735.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,025,181.50. The trade was a 24.65% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Beril Yildiz sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.33, for a total transaction of $185,592.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $256,812.93. The trade was a 41.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 48,100 shares of company stock worth $3,330,287. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IFF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer cut shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $92.36.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

IFF stock traded up $0.03 on Friday, hitting $65.75. The company had a trading volume of 665,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,811,273. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.33 and a 12-month high of $106.77. The stock has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $73.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.80.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. 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.