Great Lakes Advisors LLC Grows Stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 48.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 366,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,118 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.14% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $34,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IFF. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 10.8% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,990,000 after acquiring an additional 2,042 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 82,109 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 9,997 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1,856.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 489 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.0% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 4,011,307 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $381,917,000 after purchasing an additional 80,558 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 17.9% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 96,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,943,000 after purchasing an additional 14,578 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In related news, insider Angela Strzelecki sold 2,588 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.66, for a total transaction of $247,568.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $816,840.74. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on IFF shares. Bank of America increased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $87.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $116.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.80.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of IFF traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $103.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,498,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,770,746. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.28 and a 1 year high of $105.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $98.32 and its 200 day moving average is $91.78. The firm has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a PE ratio of -10.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.22.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.15. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.63%. The business had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.38%.

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.