International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. $IFF Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• ZWJ Investment Counsel trimmed its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 13.4% in Q4, selling 44,915 shares and finishing the quarter with 289,423 shares worth roughly $19.5 million.
• IFF reported Q results that missed EPS ($0.80 vs. $0.85 est.) while revenue of $2.59 billion beat estimates, though revenue was down 6.6% year-over-year and the company showed a -3.2% net margin.
• Director Paul J. Fribourg purchased 142,000 shares at about $70.13 each (~$9.96 million), raising his stake to 2,422,730 shares.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 289,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 44,915 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.11% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $19,504,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 36,972,638 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,275,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,925,251 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,133,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,915,936,000 after acquiring an additional 252,983 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,971,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $679,460,000 after acquiring an additional 86,134 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 131.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,167,176 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $441,068,000 after purchasing an additional 4,069,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 27.3% during the third quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 6,927,070 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $426,292,000 after purchasing an additional 1,485,976 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company's stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 1.2%

IFF opened at $72.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a PE ratio of -52.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.02. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $74.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 0.85. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $59.14 and a 12-month high of $84.45.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 3.20% and a positive return on equity of 7.67%. The company's revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is -116.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus boosted their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Berenberg Bank cut their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $78.30 to $77.50 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $88.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul J. Fribourg acquired 142,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $70.13 per share, for a total transaction of $9,958,460.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 2,422,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $169,906,054.90. This represents a 6.23% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.07% of the company's stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc NYSE: IFF is a global leader in the creation and production of flavors, fragrances, cosmetic actives and nutritional lipids. The company develops taste and scent solutions for a wide array of end markets including food and beverage, personal care, household goods and pharmaceutical products. Its portfolio spans natural and nature-identical flavors, fine fragrances, functional ingredients for skin and hair care, and specialty oils that enhance nutritional value and sensory appeal.

IFF's research and development network comprises innovation centers in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America, where multidisciplinary teams collaborate on aroma chemistry, sensory science and biotechnology.

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