Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 219 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IFF. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 19,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. United Community Bank increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF opened at $71.11 on Thursday. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.85 and a 52-week high of $106.77. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently 170.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IFF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Argus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,860. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.