International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Sold by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its stake by 53.3% in International Flavors & Fragrances, selling 19,060 shares and now holding 16,719 shares worth approximately $1.3 million.
• Several analysts updated their target prices for IFF, with UBS Group lowering its target from $83.00 to $79.00 while Citigroup increased its target from $84.00 to $90.00, indicating mixed sentiments about the stock.
• International Flavors & Fragrances announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.5%, despite a negative net margin of 3.48% reported in its recent earnings.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lowered its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 53.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 19,060 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $1,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 84.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 389,819 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $32,959,000 after acquiring an additional 178,664 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,595,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $219,417,000 after purchasing an additional 433,048 shares during the period. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 279.3% during the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 177,425 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $14,487,000 after purchasing an additional 130,642 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 115,477 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $9,764,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IFF. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.36.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In related news, CEO J Erik Fyrwald purchased 15,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $64.95 per share, with a total value of $993,735.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 77,370 shares in the company, valued at $5,025,181.50. The trade was a 24.65% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin O'byrne purchased 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $76.05 per share, with a total value of $342,225.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 7,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $585,280.80. The trade was a 140.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought 52,100 shares of company stock valued at $3,631,607 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE:IFF traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.51. 962,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,805,452. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -42.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.33 and a 1 year high of $106.77.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.04. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.95% and a negative net margin of 3.48%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. 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 payout ratio is presently -103.23%.

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.