International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $103.31.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on IFF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Argus raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 3rd.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

IFF opened at $73.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.67, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $81.66 and a 200 day moving average of $89.05. International Flavors & Fragrances has a fifty-two week low of $72.82 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued 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. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is 170.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IFF. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 31,437,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,658,063,000 after buying an additional 3,355,381 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,218,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,554,996,000 after purchasing an additional 164,945 shares during the last quarter. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,143,882,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,166,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $520,032,000 after buying an additional 157,948 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

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.