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

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.86.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IFF. Citigroup upped their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $103.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 23.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 263,720 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,677,000 after purchasing an additional 50,405 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 313.1% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 10,678 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 8,093 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 55.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 101,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $8,686,000 after acquiring an additional 36,026 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 8.3% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 650,879 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,969,000 after acquiring an additional 49,614 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

Shares of IFF opened at $101.33 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.22. International Flavors & Fragrances has a fifty-two week low of $63.21 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $103.03 and its 200-day moving average is $97.59.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 6.63% and a negative net margin of 20.82%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.