International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) was the target of a significant 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. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,270,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on IFF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Vertical Research raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley raised International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.27.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total transaction of $458,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $297,086.50. This represents a 60.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Flavors & Fragrances

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 29.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,453 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 55.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 101,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,686,000 after buying an additional 36,026 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 16.0% during the first quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 3,619 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the first quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 24.2% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 11,434 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 3.6 %

IFF opened at $86.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $22.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.48, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.22. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 52 week low of $72.89 and a 52 week high of $106.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.43.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.93 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.17 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -17.60%.

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.