Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Boosts Stock Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. $IFF

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. by 1.0%, owning 1,362,648 shares valued at over $100 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Analysts have recently downgraded price targets for IFF, with Barclays lowering its target from $84.00 to $78.00 and BNP Paribas Exane adjusting theirs from $96.00 to $92.00 while maintaining an "outperform" rating.
• International Flavors & Fragrances has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share to be paid on October 10th, with a dividend yield of 2.6% despite a negative payout ratio of -103.23%.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 1.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,362,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,929 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned 0.53% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $100,223,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 3,671 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,290 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 6,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 55.7% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 587 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IFF. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer cut International Flavors & Fragrances from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $91.80.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE IFF opened at $60.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.57 billion, a PE ratio of -39.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.07. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $67.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.84. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.13 and a 1-year high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. International Flavors & Fragrances has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -103.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J Erik Fyrwald acquired 15,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $64.95 per share, with a total value of $993,735.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 77,370 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,025,181.50. This represents a 24.65% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Paul J. Fribourg bought 15,450 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $64.80 per share, with a total value of $1,001,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 15,450 shares in the company, valued at $1,001,160. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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.

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