Searle & CO. Decreases Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Searle & CO. reduced its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,499 shares during the quarter. Searle & CO.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IFF. Pictet North America Advisors SA grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.1% in the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 3,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $686,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Orca Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 21,266 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,231,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 14,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,523,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on IFF shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup increased their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.43.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

IFF stock traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $103.50. The company had a trading volume of 156,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,668,717. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a one year low of $63.21 and a one year high of $106.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.43 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.00.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.63%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -16.38%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company Profile

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.