McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $76.25.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MKC shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 0.4 %

MKC opened at $74.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.94 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.31. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $59.13 and a fifty-two week high of $90.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.91 and a 200-day moving average of $70.64.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.07%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 8th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 61.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $1,875,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares in the company, valued at $14,944,350. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 2,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $207,386.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 25,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,875,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares in the company, valued at $14,944,350. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 107,732 shares of company stock valued at $7,982,386 in the last 90 days. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of McCormick & Company, Incorporated

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKC. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the second quarter worth $35,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 283.9% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 787 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

McCormick & Company, Incorporated manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to the food industry. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Flavor Solutions. The Consumer segment offers spices, herbs, and seasonings, as well as condiments and sauces, and desserts.