Smith Group Asset Management LLC Has $17.06 Million Position in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 201,779 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 11,687 shares during the quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $17,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IFF. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter worth $42,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter worth $44,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on IFF shares. Morgan Stanley raised International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $107.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.00.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 1.2 %

IFF stock opened at $86.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.14 billion, a PE ratio of -9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.94 and a twelve month high of $106.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $86.42 and its 200-day moving average is $95.01.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 20.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total value of $458,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,086.50. The trade was a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

International Flavors & Fragrances Profile

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.