International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 378.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,913 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $1,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Principal Securities Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IFF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 research note on Thursday, May 8th. Cfra cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $77.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on 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. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $92.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IFF traded up $0.44 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $77.78. 156,175 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,760,910. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $75.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.39. 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 company has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.75, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.08. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.85 and a 1 year high of $106.77.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is presently -48.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, EVP Stephen N. Landsman acquired 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $77.28 per share, for a total transaction of $927,360.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $927,360. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kevin O'byrne bought 6,500 shares of the company's 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 23,200 shares of company stock worth $1,803,340. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.