First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Trims Holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. decreased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 650,879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,969,000 after buying an additional 49,614 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,696 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 313.1% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 10,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $919,000 after buying an additional 8,093 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,860 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,622,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 263,720 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,677,000 after buying an additional 50,405 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IFF. Mizuho raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $103.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.86.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

NYSE:IFF opened at $98.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.74. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.45 and a 12-month high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.63%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. Research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -17.35%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company 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.