McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.75.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus cut shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 1.0 %

MKC stock opened at $82.28 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.43 and a 200-day moving average of $78.80. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $66.88 and a fifty-two week high of $86.24. The company has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.74.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.03, for a total value of $2,163,926.76. Following the transaction, the director now owns 6,177 shares in the company, valued at $475,814.31. This trade represents a 81.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 23.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,737,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,419,653,000 after acquiring an additional 303,973 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,024,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,114,000 after buying an additional 137,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,693,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,573,000 after buying an additional 531,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,530,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,060,000 after buying an additional 326,041 shares during the period. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

McCormick & Co, Inc engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. It operates through the Consumer and Flavor Solutions segments. The Consumer segment sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and sauces.