International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. $IFF Shares Sold by DnB Asset Management AS

Key Points

• DnB Asset Management AS reduced its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. by 7.0%, selling 44,691 shares, and now holds about 590,907 shares valued at $45.86 million.
• Multiple institutional investors have increased their stakes, with AQR Capital Management LLC and Alyeska Investment Group L.P. growing their positions significantly during the 1st quarter.
• International Flavors & Fragrances recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, indicating a dividend yield of 2.4%, despite reporting a negative net margin of 3.48% for the last quarter.

DnB Asset Management AS cut its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 590,907 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 44,691 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS owned 0.23% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $45,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 4.9% during the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 3,671 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC raised its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% during the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Byrne Asset Management LLC raised 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 worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Channing Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.3% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 4,154 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IFF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J Erik Fyrwald acquired 15,300 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $64.95 per share, for a total transaction of $993,735.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,025,181.50. This trade represents 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 through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 15,450 shares of the company'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 completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 15,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,160. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Up 0.7%

IFF traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.97. 1,872,078 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,053,432. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.33 and a 12-month high of $106.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $70.72 and a 200 day moving average of $74.61. The firm has a market cap of $16.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. International Flavors & Fragrances has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is presently -103.23%.

International Flavors & Fragrances 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.