Stifel Financial Corp Buys 21,168 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,191 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 21,168 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp's holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $9,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in IFF. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at about $452,363,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in 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 worth $2,658,063,000 after buying an additional 3,355,381 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $464,926,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,595,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $219,417,000 after buying an additional 433,048 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on IFF shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $104.00 to $89.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF traded up $1.21 on Friday, reaching $79.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 825,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,532,028. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.11, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.85 and a 12-month high of $106.77. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $76.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.86.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. Research analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin O'byrne acquired 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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.