Short Interest in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Rises By 7.8%

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,310,000 shares, a growth of 7.8% from the November 15th total of 4,000,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,370,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE IFF traded down $0.38 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $86.77. 1,120,776 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,656,298. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $94.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a PE ratio of -9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.17. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 12-month low of $72.94 and a 12-month high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. International Flavors & Fragrances's revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's payout ratio is presently -17.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Albar Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 485,433 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in 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 worth $74,299,000 after buying an additional 293,760 shares during the last quarter. Smith Group Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at approximately $22,399,000. Point72 Europe London LLP boosted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 50.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 209,098 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 196,696 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IFF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Vertical Research raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $109.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $111.00.

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.