International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Position Raised by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

Key Points

• IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. by 8.5%, acquiring an additional 3,974 shares for a total of 50,485 shares valued at approximately $3.9 million.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for IFF, with the average target at $93.43; however, Mizuho and Oppenheimer lowered their targets to $87.00 and $89.00, respectively.
• International Flavors & Fragrances has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, which will be paid on October 10th, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.3%.

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,485 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,974 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $3,918,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 31,437,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,658,063,000 after acquiring an additional 3,355,381 shares during the period. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,143,882,000. First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.8% in the first quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 4,062,075 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $315,258,000 after acquiring an additional 32,302 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,407,262 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $288,084,000 after buying an additional 565,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,595,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $219,417,000 after acquiring an additional 433,048 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, CAO Beril Yildiz sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 3,321 shares in the company, valued at $256,812.93. This represents a 41.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Hernandez Margarita Palau acquired 850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $77.42 per share, with a total value of $65,807.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at $185,266.06. The trade was a 55.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 22,050 shares of company stock worth $1,688,512 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IFF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group cut 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. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $104.00 to $89.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.14.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 6.3%

Shares of NYSE IFF traded down $4.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $66.20. 5,504,031 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,688,073. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $16.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $75.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.76. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52-week low of $63.71 and a 52-week high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.15 EPS 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 8.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. International Flavors & Fragrances's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued 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 -48.93%.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.