Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 448,542 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 10.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,000,621 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 448,542 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 1.56% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $415,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 23.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 263,720 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,677,000 after purchasing an additional 50,405 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 313.1% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 10,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 8,093 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 55.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 101,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,686,000 after acquiring an additional 36,026 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 650,879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,969,000 after purchasing an additional 49,614 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the first quarter worth $1,115,000. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on IFF shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. UBS Group reduced their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $103.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.86.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $98.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $103.00 and a 200-day moving average of $97.74. The company has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a PE ratio of -10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.45 and a 1-year high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.15. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 6.63% and a negative net margin of 20.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -17.35%.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.