International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (NYSE:IFF) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $86.45, but opened at $80.99. International Flavors & Fragrances shares last traded at $83.68, with a volume of 255,624 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on IFF. UBS Group lifted their price objective on International Flavors & Fragrances from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Vertical Research upgraded International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Argus upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from $113.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of International Flavors & Fragrances from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $111.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, International Flavors & Fragrances has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.77.

International Flavors & Fragrances Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.06, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.73.

International Flavors & Fragrances (NYSE:IFF) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.14. International Flavors & Fragrances had a negative net margin of 20.33% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.67 billion. Equities analysts forecast that International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IFF. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of International Flavors & Fragrances in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. acquired a new position in International Flavors & Fragrances during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. 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.