Huntington National Bank Boosts Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Huntington National Bank grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,314 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 219 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IFF. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,218,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,554,996,000 after purchasing an additional 164,945 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,102,363,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,166,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $520,032,000 after buying an additional 157,948 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $478,912,000 after buying an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $464,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IFF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Cfra lowered shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne purchased 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:IFF opened at $73.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.67, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.82 and a 1 year high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Equities analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.21%.

International Flavors & Fragrances 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.