NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Makes New $214,000 Investment in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,640 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 310 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 241.3% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 744 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 466.7% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 918 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the period. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at about $89,000. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on IFF. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $87.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Argus cut shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $89.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.35.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Up 0.3 %

IFF traded up $0.27 during trading on Friday, hitting $84.61. The company had a trading volume of 879,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,105,808. The company has a market cap of $21.60 billion, a PE ratio of -8.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.99 and a 200-day moving average of $77.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.02. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.11 and a 1-year high of $97.49.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.03). International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 22.36% and a positive return on equity of 5.09%. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -15.94%.

International Flavors & Fragrances 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.