McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Director Sells $4,090,500.00 in Stock

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total value of $4,090,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 247,437 shares in the company, valued at $20,242,820.97. This trade represents a 16.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $76.36 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.76. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 12 month low of $66.88 and a 12 month high of $86.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 61.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock 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 report on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 21.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 139,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,500,000 after purchasing an additional 24,881 shares during the period. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 4th quarter worth $4,228,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 4th quarter worth $234,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 136,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,547,000 after acquiring an additional 19,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 87,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,699,000 after acquiring an additional 12,356 shares during the period. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.