McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Receives $79.57 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $79.57.

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 1.2 %

MKC stock traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $77.86. 1,129,184 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,927,726. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $62.54 and a 52-week high of $85.49. The company has a market cap of $20.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's fifty day moving average is $81.16 and its 200-day moving average is $75.90.

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,119,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,390,261,000 after purchasing an additional 883,327 shares during the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 4.4% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,211,122 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,646,000 after purchasing an additional 136,080 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,622,602 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,442,000 after purchasing an additional 60,512 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.5% during the second quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,052,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,644,000 after purchasing an additional 99,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 97,525.5% in the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 976,255 shares of the company's stock worth $69,256,000 after acquiring an additional 975,255 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the company's stock.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.