International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” by Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports.

IFF has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $89.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an underperform rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $86.35.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:IFF opened at $83.97 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.36, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.23. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 12 month low of $62.11 and a 12 month high of $97.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $81.62 and its 200 day moving average is $77.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 22.36% and a positive return on equity of 5.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 22nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.91%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -15.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Leeward Investments LLC MA lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 49.3% during the first quarter. Leeward Investments LLC MA now owns 132,496 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,393,000 after acquiring an additional 43,754 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 30.8% during the first quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 25,140 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 5,915 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 313.1% during 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 last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,696 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,381,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 14.5% in the first quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 30,615 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,633,000 after buying an additional 3,872 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

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.