International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Short Interest Update

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in 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 sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In related news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.75, for a total value of $458,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $297,086.50. This trade represents a 60.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of International Flavors & Fragrances

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pictet North America Advisors SA increased its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 3,275 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,720 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orca Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Orca Investment Management LLC now owns 21,266 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,231,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

IFF stock traded down $3.23 on Friday, reaching $86.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,602,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,678,544. The company’s fifty day moving average is $100.76 and its 200 day moving average is $98.33. The company has a market cap of $22.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.48, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 2.62. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 1 year low of $72.89 and a 1 year high of $106.77.

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). International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.33% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is presently -17.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IFF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a report on Tuesday. Vertical Research raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. 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. Oppenheimer raised their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, 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, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.27.

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.