Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.25 Million in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 15,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,247,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Winder Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,728,544,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,672,776 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $388,358,000 after purchasing an additional 795,797 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,927,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $267,711,000 after acquiring an additional 996,629 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 15.8% during the third quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,893,127 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $265,394,000 after acquiring an additional 530,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,119,754 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $212,674,000 after acquiring an additional 179,894 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Argus downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Barclays upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $87.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.35.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

IFF stock opened at $84.89 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.11 and a 1 year high of $97.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $81.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.68.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 5.09% and a negative net margin of 22.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -15.94%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Profile

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.