Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 510,362 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 7,250 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.20% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $42,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,121,414 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 30.9% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 926,873 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $78,367,000 after purchasing an additional 218,792 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,102,363,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,037,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on IFF shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Cfra downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on 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. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.31.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 2.3 %

NYSE IFF opened at $76.41 on Friday. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.38 and a 52-week high of $106.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $82.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.14. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. Equities research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 170.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,860. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.