International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to Overweight Rating

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $110.00 target price on the specialty chemicals company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $111.00.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on IFF. Mizuho upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $93.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.27.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of IFF stock opened at $89.43 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. International Flavors & Fragrances has a fifty-two week low of $69.73 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $101.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.36.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last posted its earnings results 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 positive return on equity of 7.16% and a negative net margin of 20.33%. The firm 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 firm posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently -17.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $297,086.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 36,026 shares during the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the second quarter valued at about $868,000. GM Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 2nd quarter worth about $686,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 255,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,002,000 after purchasing an additional 22,398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 69.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 56,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,880,000 after purchasing an additional 23,278 shares during the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.