ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Buys 6,350 Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 176,455 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,350 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.07% of International Flavors & Fragrances worth $14,288,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in IFF. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,380 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,792 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on IFF. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Argus cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.35.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

IFF stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $83.97. 785,471 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,177,297. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.36. International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.11 and a 1-year high of $97.49. The company has a market cap of $21.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.36, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -15.94%.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.