International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a sell rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on IFF. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $119.00 to $105.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 10th. Bank of America raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $121.00 to $106.00 in a report on Friday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $132.00 to $131.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $123.00 to $110.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $117.31.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 1.1 %

International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $82.76 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.99. International Flavors & Fragrances has a one year low of $81.53 and a one year high of $135.17.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 8th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 14.81% and a positive return on equity of 7.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 23rd. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is presently -44.88%.

Institutional Trading of International Flavors & Fragrances

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IFF. Czech National Bank acquired a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,691,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 570,183 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,790,000 after purchasing an additional 78,166 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,481,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 39.7% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 73,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,658,000 after purchasing an additional 20,831 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.86% of the company’s stock.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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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.