International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $109.23.

IFF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Argus upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $464,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares in the last quarter. Albar Capital Ltd grew its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 73.5% in the 2nd quarter. Albar Capital Ltd now owns 1,146,234 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $109,133,000 after purchasing an additional 485,433 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 70.9% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 708,081 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $74,299,000 after purchasing an additional 293,760 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 3rd quarter worth $22,399,000. Finally, Point72 Europe London LLP grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 50.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP now owns 627,412 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $59,736,000 after buying an additional 209,098 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

IFF stock opened at $84.87 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $21.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.34, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.52. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 12-month low of $72.94 and a 12-month high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.46). International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.33% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -17.60%.

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.