International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $110.08.

IFF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $107.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IFF opened at $81.36 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $87.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $95.91. International Flavors & Fragrances has a fifty-two week low of $72.94 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The firm has a market cap of $20.80 billion, a PE ratio of -8.95, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.46). International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 20.33%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's payout ratio is -17.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter worth $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.