First Pacific Advisors LP Acquires 22,991 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,029,773 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 22,991 shares during the quarter. International Flavors & Fragrances accounts for approximately 4.9% of First Pacific Advisors LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. First Pacific Advisors LP’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $340,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.7% during 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. Finally, 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 worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. This trade represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IFF. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IFF opened at $82.60 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.26. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12 month low of $78.64 and a 12 month high of $106.77. The stock has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.88, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is 170.21%.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.