International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Stock Position Cut by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI trimmed its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,459 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 10,859 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $12,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IFF. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,218,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,554,996,000 after purchasing an additional 164,945 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,102,363,000 after buying an additional 196,696 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,008,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $628,341,000 after buying an additional 77,521 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF opened at $73.01 on Friday. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.82 and a 52 week high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $18.67 billion, a PE ratio of 77.67, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.05.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is 170.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IFF shares. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup cut their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.31.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, Director Kevin O’byrne purchased 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.