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

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 21,766 call options on the company. This is an increase of 2,617% compared to the average daily volume of 801 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IFF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $103.87.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:IFF opened at $103.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $99.61 and a 200 day moving average of $93.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 52 week low of $62.28 and a 52 week high of $105.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.59, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.22.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.15. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 6.63% and a negative net margin of 20.82%. The firm had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -16.38%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IFF. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,854 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,812,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the 4th quarter worth about $228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.