International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $88.66, but opened at $92.60. International Flavors & Fragrances shares last traded at $93.87, with a volume of 468,954 shares changing hands.

The specialty chemicals company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.78 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 22.36% and a positive return on equity of 5.09%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.87 EPS.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -15.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IFF has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Barclays raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. Citigroup raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $87.65.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 124.1% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 41,019 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 22,719 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 4.8% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 12,823 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 125.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 170,673 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $11,635,000 after purchasing an additional 95,118 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 20.5% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 57,816 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,941,000 after purchasing an additional 9,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.8% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,388 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.02% of the company's stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Up 6.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $24.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $82.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.10.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company Profile

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.