Short Interest in International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) Decreases By 5.6%

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,710,000 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the August 15th total of 2,870,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,310,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE IFF opened at $103.31 on Friday. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 52-week low of $62.28 and a 52-week high of $105.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $99.61 and a 200-day moving average of $93.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.38 billion, a PE ratio of -10.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.15. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.82% and a positive return on equity of 6.63%. The company had revenue of $2.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Friday, September 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s payout ratio is -16.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,696 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,381,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,679 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pflug Koory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Pflug Koory LLC now owns 6,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on IFF. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $102.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $107.00 to $103.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.87.

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.