International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $77.28 and last traded at $78.00, with a volume of 542947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on IFF shares. Cfra cut International Flavors & Fragrances from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $77.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Argus upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on International Flavors & Fragrances from $105.00 to $101.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $103.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $83.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.21.

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

International Flavors & Fragrances Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 21st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 21st. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. International Flavors & Fragrances’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 170.21%.

Insider Activity at International Flavors & Fragrances

In other news, Director Kevin O’byrne bought 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $80.44 per share, for a total transaction of $522,860.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $522,860. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IFF. Freemont Capital Pte Ltd bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,143,882,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter valued at about $452,363,000. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 11.9% in the 4th 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 period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,664,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $478,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,663,629 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in International Flavors & Fragrances by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,489,741 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $464,926,000 after acquiring an additional 1,121,414 shares during the period. 96.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About International Flavors & Fragrances

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.