International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Upgraded by Vertical Research to “Buy” Rating

Vertical Research upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $109.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on IFF. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays lifted 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 lifted their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $108.80.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE IFF traded up $1.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $92.13. 1,359,283 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,669,173. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 12-month low of $69.73 and a 12-month high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.04. The firm has a market cap of $23.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.22.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.63%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -17.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 4,011,307 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $381,917,000 after purchasing an additional 80,558 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 9.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,895,581 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $163,003,000 after acquiring an additional 162,179 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,756,438 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $167,244,000 after buying an additional 123,693 shares during the last quarter. Albar Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 73.5% during the 2nd quarter. Albar Capital Ltd now owns 1,146,234 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $109,133,000 after buying an additional 485,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 344.5% during the first quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 847,504 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $72,877,000 after purchasing an additional 656,820 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.