Fruth Investment Management Decreases Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Fruth Investment Management lowered its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,746 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 680 shares during the quarter. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $1,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 9,112 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $770,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the period. Choreo LLC boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 24,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 8,728 shares during the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 13,360 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 28,141 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,377,000 after buying an additional 6,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 11,934 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on IFF shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $117.00 to $114.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Vertical Research raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Argus raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.77.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF opened at $86.12 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $85.96 and its 200 day moving average is $94.59. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.94 and a 12-month high of $106.77.

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

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.