Norges Bank Invests $161 Million in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,353,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $160,999,000. Norges Bank owned 0.88% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ING Groep NV lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 698.0% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 74,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after acquiring an additional 65,079 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 96.9% during the 4th quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 72,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,967,000 after acquiring an additional 35,729 shares during the period. Hamel Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 245.9% during the 4th quarter. Hamel Associates Inc. now owns 28,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,961,000 after acquiring an additional 20,370 shares during the period. Trillium Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 631,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,179,000 after acquiring an additional 41,216 shares during the period. Finally, Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 534 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.75, for a total transaction of $5,900,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,695,277.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 1,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total value of $128,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.75, for a total transaction of $5,900,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares in the company, valued at $14,695,277.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,458 shares of company stock valued at $8,286,114 over the last three months. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.88.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

MKC opened at $72.15 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $74.17 and a 200 day moving average of $69.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.68. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $59.13 and a fifty-two week high of $94.39.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.12%.

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.