Royal Bank of Canada Grows Stock Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 361,073 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 68,970 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.14% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $30,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 638 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, CAO Beril Yildiz sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.33, for a total transaction of $185,592.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,812.93. This trade represents a 41.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Hernandez Margarita Palau acquired 850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $77.42 per share, for a total transaction of $65,807.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $185,266.06. The trade was a 55.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 28,550 shares of company stock valued at $2,211,372. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IFF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $104.00 to $89.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF stock opened at $75.03 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. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $75.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.00. The company has a market cap of $19.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.82, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.08. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.85 and a 12 month high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.13 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -48.93%.

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.