Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 34,887 International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 34,887 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,322,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 7.8% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,778,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $410,919,000 after purchasing an additional 344,377 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.0% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 4,011,307 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $381,917,000 after acquiring an additional 80,558 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,375,699 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $192,360,000 after purchasing an additional 33,548 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 9.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 162,179 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,756,438 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $167,244,000 after purchasing an additional 123,693 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $105.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.28 and a twelve month high of $105.61. The company’s fifty day moving average is $100.57 and its 200 day moving average is $94.50.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 6.63% and a negative net margin of 20.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -16.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on IFF shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 report on Friday, September 6th. Citigroup boosted their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group decreased 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 report on Thursday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $103.87.

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.