Garner Asset Management Corp Lowers Stock Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Garner Asset Management Corp lowered its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,002 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 263 shares during the period. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth approximately $452,363,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% during the fourth 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,595,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $219,417,000 after buying an additional 433,048 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 102.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 653,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,261,000 after buying an additional 330,981 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on IFF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $106.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Argus raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Cfra downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.69.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF opened at $73.24 on Friday. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $65.85 and a 1 year high of $106.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.45. The company has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.92, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 170.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by 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.