International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Purchased by Olstein Capital Management L.P.

Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 104,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 23,000 shares during the period. International Flavors & Fragrances accounts for 1.5% of Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $8,793,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 33.3% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,425 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 69.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,794 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 4,015 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 37.2% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 104,229 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,924,000 after buying an additional 28,259 shares during the period. AXA S.A. acquired a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the second quarter worth about $7,499,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 174.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,290,000 after acquiring an additional 62,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total value of $458,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Vertical Research upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $109.23.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $85.89 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.17. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.94 and a 12 month high of $106.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.45, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.93.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.46). International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.33% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -17.60%.

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.