International Flavors & Fragrances Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:IFF)

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 3,976 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 589% compared to the typical volume of 577 call options.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

NYSE IFF traded down $3.23 on Monday, reaching $69.90. 981,808 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,484,270. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $81.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.84. International Flavors & Fragrances has a one year low of $69.58 and a one year high of $106.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.87 billion, a PE ratio of 74.22, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. Analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio is presently 170.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kevin O'byrne purchased 6,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 36.6% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 638 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on IFF. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $114.00 to $104.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Barclays reduced their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Cfra cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $77.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $103.31.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc engages in the manufacture and supply of flavors and fragrances used in the food, beverage, personal care, and household products industries. It operates through the following segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent and Pharma Solutions. The Nourish segment consists of legacy Taste segment combined with N&B's Food & Beverage division and the food protection business of N&B's Health & Biosciences division.