Korea Investment takes new $3.2M stake in IFF as fund interest holds
What's the deal? Korea Investment CORPDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → acquired a new position in International Flavors & FragrancesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (NYSE:IFF) during the second quarter, buying 40,013 shares worth roughly $3,170,000, according to HoldingsChannel.com. IFF is a specialty chemicals company.
Why it matters: Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 96.02% of IFF stock. BlackRock also opened a new position in the second quarter, valued at $1,835,955,000.
The numbers: IFF shares opened at $85.79 on Tuesday, giving the company a market capitalisation of $21.89 billion. The stock trades near its 1-year high of $89.32, well above its low of $59.14.
What could go wrong? IFF's latest earnings disappointed. It reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the $1.07 consensus by $0.25, and revenue of $1.95 billion fell short of the $2.62 billion estimate. That EPS also trailed the $1.15 earned a year earlier.
Return to shareholders: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, payable October 9 to shareholders of record on September 18, for a 1.9% yield. Its Board also approved a $2.5 billion buyback, covering up to 12.1% of shares.
The signal: Fresh stakes from Korea Investment CORP and BlackRock signal continued institutional appetite for IFF, even as its earnings miss and a payout ratio of 146.79% raise questions about how long its dividend can hold.
Read more: tickerreport.com
Image credit: Rusdhi Mohamad
