International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF – Get Rating) by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 454,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 302,826 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $41,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 81.9% in the second quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 4,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,241 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.8% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 16,147 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,923,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Czech National Bank purchased a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,691,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.3% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,923 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,373,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,481,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IFF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 8th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $121.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.94.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

IFF stock opened at $110.84 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.11, a PEG ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 1.03. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $83.14 and a 1 year high of $143.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $106.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.70.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 7th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.31% and a negative net margin of 13.91%. On average, research analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 6th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 28th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 27th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -47.09%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Profile

(Get Rating)

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.