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

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of 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. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IFF. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.7% during the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 19.8% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,380 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $444,000 after buying an additional 558 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 10.9% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $767,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,792 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 31.5% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 3,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.02% of the company’s stock.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

NYSE IFF traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,656,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,084,483. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 52-week low of $62.11 and a 52-week high of $97.49. The company has a market cap of $21.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.75 by ($0.03). International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 22.36% and a positive return on equity of 5.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IFF shares. Citigroup raised shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $73.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, January 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.