Norges Bank Buys Shares of 5,350,246 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,350,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,363,000. Norges Bank owned about 2.09% of International Flavors & Fragrances as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IFF. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $478,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,629 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 926,873 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $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% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,102,363,000 after buying an additional 196,696 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at about $16,037,000. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on IFF shares. Argus raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer cut 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $103.31.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:IFF opened at $76.41 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.56 and a 200-day moving average of $89.97. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52-week low of $76.38 and a 52-week high of $106.77. The company has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 81.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is 170.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.