SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 7,540 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 77.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,297 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,540 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $1,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IFF. Olstein Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.0% in the first quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 105,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $8,149,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 48.5% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,534 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 27.5% during the first quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,283 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 2,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 226,400.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,265 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Beril Yildiz sold 2,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.33, for a total value of $185,592.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,812.93. The trade was a 41.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kevin O'byrne acquired 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $76.05 per share, with a total value of $342,225.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $585,280.80. The trade was a 140.80% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 22,050 shares of company stock worth $1,688,512. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IFF has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective 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, one has given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $93.43.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 0.7%

IFF stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $73.96. 1,014,050 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,705,802. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $76.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.26. The stock has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.05. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.85 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.08. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.99% and a negative net margin of 7.31%. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. International Flavors & Fragrances's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's 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.