Principal Securities Inc. Raises Stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 36.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 638 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $54,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,720 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,458 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 4,095 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $321,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE IFF opened at $81.11 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $84.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.94 and a 1 year high of $106.77. The firm has a market cap of $20.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on IFF. Bank of America reduced their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Cfra downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.50.

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.