International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on IFF. Vertical Research raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

IFF opened at $82.05 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $88.12 and a 200 day moving average of $96.02. The stock has a market cap of $20.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.03, a PEG ratio of 1.54 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 has a 52-week low of $72.94 and a 52-week high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.33% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is presently -17.60%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was 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 $297,086.50. This represents a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Flavors & Fragrances

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IFF. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,467,517 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,102,363,000 after purchasing an additional 196,696 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,008,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $628,341,000 after acquiring an additional 77,521 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake 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 worth $464,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 7.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,756,438 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $167,244,000 after purchasing an additional 123,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,498,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $157,271,000 after purchasing an additional 16,590 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

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.