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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.75.

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

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 6,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $475,814.31. This represents a 81.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 23.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,737,310 shares of the company's stock worth $2,419,653,000 after purchasing an additional 303,973 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,024,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $458,114,000 after buying an additional 137,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 16.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company's stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MKC traded down $0.16 on Tuesday, reaching $81.47. 2,176,119 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,899,000. The company has a fifty day moving average of $79.26 and a 200-day moving average of $78.87. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $66.88 and a twelve month high of $86.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) last released 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). McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 2.21%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.86%.

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.