United Community Bank Raises Stock Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

United Community Bank lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. United Community Bank’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $78,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IFF. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,292,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 470,676 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,388,000 after acquiring an additional 9,555 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 11,839 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,242,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on IFF shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of 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, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE:IFF opened at $82.60 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.26. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a twelve month low of $78.64 and a twelve month high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.