St. James Investment Company LLC Sells 18,746 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

St. James Investment Company LLC lowered its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Free Report) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,599 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 18,746 shares during the quarter. International Flavors & Fragrances accounts for approximately 2.5% of St. James Investment Company LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. St. James Investment Company LLC owned approximately 0.08% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $15,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 196.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 13,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 9,206 shares in the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 93.6% in the 4th quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 85,140 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,894,000 after acquiring an additional 41,173 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,171,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 195.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,972 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 44,613 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,041,000 after purchasing an additional 14,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on IFF shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.35.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE IFF traded up $0.35 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.94. 1,656,521 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,227,526. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.26, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.11 and a 12-month high of $97.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $81.46 and a 200-day moving average of $77.15.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 22.36% and a positive return on equity of 5.09%. International Flavors & Fragrances's revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is presently -15.94%.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic active and natural health ingredients for use in various consumer products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent, and Pharma Solutions.