LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Takes $281,000 Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,320 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 638 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,000. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IFF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research note on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays reduced their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Bank of America dropped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $99.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.23.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $73.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.78 billion, a PE ratio of 78.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.85 and a twelve month high of $106.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.10.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently 170.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,860. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.