Barclays Issues Pessimistic Forecast for International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Stock Price

Key Points

• Barclays lowered its price target on IFF from $105 to $103 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying about 23% upside from the stock’s prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: IFF has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $95.05 average price target, though targets and ratings vary across research firms.
• IFF beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with year-over-year revenue growth of 3.9%; the company also has authorization to repurchase up to $2.5 billion of shares.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at Barclays from $105.00 to $103.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the specialty chemicals company's stock. Barclays's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.07% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on IFF. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $95.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, October 25th. Finally, Zacks Research raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.05.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock traded down $2.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.69. 562,995 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,867,699. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 1 year low of $61.72 and a 1 year high of $95.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.98, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.91 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 1.97% and a return on equity of 6.82%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, August 4th that allows the company to buy back $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the specialty chemicals company to purchase up to 12.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider De Mendonca Ana Paula Teles sold 5,718 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.19, for a total transaction of $475,680.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.07% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IFF. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the second quarter worth about $1,835,955,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $223,065,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $131,760,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,809,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $131,222,000 after acquiring an additional 147,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $122,792,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc NYSE: IFF develops and manufactures ingredients, flavor systems, fragrances and specialty solutions used in consumer and industrial products. Its offerings support food and beverage manufacturers, fragrance and personal care companies, household-product makers, pharmaceutical businesses and other customers.

The company's portfolio includes flavors for beverages, dairy products, sweet goods, savory foods and other applications; fragrances for fine fragrance, personal care and home care products; and functional ingredients, enzymes, cultures, natural extracts and other specialty materials.

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