International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) shares reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $83.00 to $82.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. International Flavors & Fragrances traded as low as $76.38 and last traded at $76.41, with a volume of 929638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.18.

IFF has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Cfra downgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.31.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In related news, Director Kevin O’byrne purchased 6,500 shares of International Flavors & Fragrances stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,860. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the third quarter valued at $42,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 638 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Down 2.3 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 81.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.67 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a net margin of 2.12% and a return on equity of 7.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 21st will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is currently 170.21%.

International Flavors & Fragrances Company Profile

International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc engages in the manufacture and supply of flavors and fragrances used in the food, beverage, personal care, and household products industries. It operates through the following segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent and Pharma Solutions. The Nourish segment consists of legacy Taste segment combined with N&B’s Food & Beverage division and the food protection business of N&B’s Health & Biosciences division.