Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 5.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,038 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $1,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,895,581 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $163,003,000 after acquiring an additional 162,179 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 1st quarter valued at about $83,000. OLD Mission Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,665,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 1st quarter valued at about $56,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 255,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,002,000 after acquiring an additional 22,398 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on International Flavors & Fragrances in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $116.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $87.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Angela Strzelecki sold 2,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.66, for a total value of $247,568.08. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $816,840.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of IFF traded up $1.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $98.84. 1,231,311 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,009,652. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.11 and a 1 year high of $99.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.12, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.94.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.27. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 5.78% and a negative net margin of 22.01%. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 21st were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -16.38%.

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.