Short Interest in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Grows By 14.9%

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,620,000 shares, a growth of 14.9% from the October 15th total of 3,150,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total value of $458,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Mizuho raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $107.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.27.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

NYSE:IFF opened at $86.14 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.48, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.43. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 1 year low of $72.89 and a 1 year high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 20.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.17 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -17.60%.

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.