McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Stock Rating Lowered by Argus

Argus downgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.75.

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McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock traded up $0.61 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $82.07. The stock had a trading volume of 529,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,893,681. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, 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 has a 1-year low of $66.88 and a 1-year high of $86.24. The stock's fifty day moving average is $79.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.81.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. 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 2.19%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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

Institutional Trading of McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $223,202,000. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 4th quarter worth approximately $104,863,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,260,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,706 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 47.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,843,273 shares of the company's stock worth $216,771,000 after buying an additional 915,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company's stock worth $127,115,000 after buying an additional 568,276 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company's stock.

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.