Easterly Investment Partners LLC Trims Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 35.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,930 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $1,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IFF. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 12.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 12,102 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,270,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 75.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 18,820 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,975,000 after buying an additional 8,089 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at approximately $576,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 85.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 364,577 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,255,000 after buying an additional 167,698 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IFF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Cfra cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One investment 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, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.31.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE:IFF opened at $78.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.63 and a 1 year high of $106.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.01 billion, a PE ratio of 83.24, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is 170.21%.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.