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

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,950,000 shares, an increase of 9.6% from the March 15th total of 6,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

International Flavors & Fragrances Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:IFF traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,656,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,483. The firm has a market cap of $21.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.15. International Flavors & Fragrances has a fifty-two week low of $62.11 and a fifty-two week high of $97.49.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. International Flavors & Fragrances had a positive return on equity of 5.09% and a negative net margin of 22.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 21st. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is currently -15.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IFF. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 3,000.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 310 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Clear Street Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 48.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 244 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $87.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $83.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. StockNews.com upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.35.

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.