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

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,310,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the November 15th total of 4,000,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,370,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Insider Transactions at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the company’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 directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet North America Advisors SA boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.1% during the third 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 raised its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 1.9% during the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,720 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Orca Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $2,231,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IFF has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $109.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.00.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE IFF traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $86.86. The stock had a trading volume of 722,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,654,132. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $22.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.59, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $94.93 and a 200-day moving average of $97.57. International Flavors & Fragrances has a fifty-two week low of $72.94 and a fifty-two week high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.89 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -17.60%.

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.