Morgan Stanley Cuts International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Price Target to $98.00

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $100.00 to $98.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the specialty chemicals company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on IFF. Barclays raised International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America decreased 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. Cfra cut shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.54.

International Flavors & Fragrances Price Performance

IFF opened at $76.49 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.57 billion, a PE ratio of 81.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.08. International Flavors & Fragrances has a 52 week low of $65.85 and a 52 week high of $106.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.84.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.08. International Flavors & Fragrances had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 2.12%. The business had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that International Flavors & Fragrances will post 4.32 earnings per share for the current year.

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 20th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio is currently -48.93%.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other International Flavors & Fragrances news, CEO J Erik Fyrwald acquired 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $74.00 per share, with a total value of $51,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,770 shares in the company, valued at $2,794,980. This trade represents a 1.89% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, with a total value of $522,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $522,860. This represents a ? increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On International Flavors & Fragrances

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 31,437,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,658,063,000 after acquiring an additional 3,355,381 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in International Flavors & Fragrances by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,390,040 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,358,571,000 after purchasing an additional 171,281 shares during the last quarter. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,143,882,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,166,778 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $520,032,000 after purchasing an additional 157,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $478,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663,629 shares in the last quarter. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.