Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 99,978 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 73.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 99,978 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances were worth $3,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in IFF. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 6.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,314 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 126,257 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,248,000 after purchasing an additional 22,028 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 872.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,323 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 4.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $406,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IFF has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $106.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $99.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.69.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of IFF opened at $73.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.92, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $87.45. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.85 and a 52-week high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.14. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. Analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 170.21%.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne acquired 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at $522,860. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.