Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 53,819 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 15.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 294,696 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 53,819 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $24,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter worth $42,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of IFF opened at $79.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $78.91 and a 12-month high of $106.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $83.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.98.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. Equities research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is presently 170.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IFF. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

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.