DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 266,392 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

DnB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 72.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 635,598 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 266,392 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS owned approximately 0.25% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $53,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth $452,363,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in 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 worth $478,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,629 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position 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. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 926,873 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $78,367,000 after buying an additional 218,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,102,363,000 after buying an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on IFF. Citigroup decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Argus raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.31.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE:IFF opened at $78.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.63 and a twelve month high of $106.77. The stock has a market cap of $20.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.24, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.16.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently 170.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne purchased 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances 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.