Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Invests $11.82 Million in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 139,789 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $11,819,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.05% of International Flavors & Fragrances at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 19,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,683,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 6,339 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. United Community Bank boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 925 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Commerce Bank increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,141 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 638 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of IFF traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,410,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,521,972. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.85 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The stock has a market cap of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.26.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The company's revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.13 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's payout ratio is -48.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO J Erik Fyrwald bought 700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $74.00 per share, with a total value of $51,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,794,980. This trade represents a 1.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Beril Yildiz sold 2,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.33, for a total value of $185,592.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $256,812.93. This represents a 41.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 22,050 shares of company stock valued at $1,688,512 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on IFF shares. Barclays raised International Flavors & Fragrances from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Cfra downgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $77.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.43.

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.