Argus Upgrades International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) to “Buy”

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) was upgraded by equities researchers at Argus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

IFF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America raised International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $107.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

International Flavors & Fragrances stock opened at $82.00 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.02, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.18. 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 52-week low of $72.94 and a 52-week high of $106.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, insider Yuvraj Arora sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $297,086.50. The trade was a 60.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $464,926,000 after buying an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in International Flavors & Fragrances by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 10,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,041 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 470,676 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,388,000 after purchasing an additional 9,555 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,809 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.