International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.77.

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Vertical Research raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $297,086.50. This represents a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the second quarter valued at approximately $694,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 7,020 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 52,080 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,421 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 109.5% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 597 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of IFF stock opened at $85.52 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 12-month low of $72.94 and a 12-month high of $106.77. The company has a market cap of $21.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.53.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.33% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

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.