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

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $93.43.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Citigroup raised their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of IFF stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.45. The company had a trading volume of 1,119,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,521,059. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.05. International Flavors & Fragrances has a one year low of $65.85 and a one year high of $106.77. 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's 50-day moving average price is $75.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.88.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.08. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.13 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances's payout ratio is currently -48.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mehmood Khan bought 4,000 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $75.33 per share, for a total transaction of $301,320.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 4,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,819.32. This represents a 662.25% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO J Erik Fyrwald acquired 700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $74.00 per share, with a total value of $51,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 37,770 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,794,980. This represents a 1.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 22,050 shares of company stock valued at $1,688,512. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IFF. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA now owns 114,179 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $9,654,000 after buying an additional 11,406 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,099,000. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 299.1% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 138,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $11,712,000 after acquiring an additional 103,810 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 361,073 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $30,529,000 after acquiring an additional 68,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 116,419 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $9,843,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.