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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $79.57.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MKC shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.50, for a total transaction of $392,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 40,436 shares in the company, valued at $3,174,226. This represents a 11.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKC. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 489.9% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 16,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after acquiring an additional 13,668 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 266,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,512,000 after purchasing an additional 39,203 shares during the period. Natixis grew its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 29,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,240,000 after purchasing an additional 5,618 shares during the last quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the first quarter valued at about $4,456,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $77.80 on Wednesday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $63.67 and a 1 year high of $85.49. The company has a market cap of $20.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.28.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 61.22%.

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.