Cohen Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Cohen Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,794 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 351,490 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,460,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 105.1% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 127,187 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $10,298,000 after purchasing an additional 65,187 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,430 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 1,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,892 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,258,000 after purchasing an additional 3,592 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on IFF shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $89.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $73.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.35.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:IFF traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $84.89. 1,134,891 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,164,435. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.11 and a 12-month high of $97.49. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.67 billion, a PE ratio of -8.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.03). International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 22.36% and a positive return on equity of 5.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is currently -15.94%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cosmetic active and natural health ingredients for use in various consumer products in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent, and Pharma Solutions.