Brokerages Set McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) PT at $84.13

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $84.13.

Several research firms recently commented on MKC. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Argus lowered shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $75.28 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.52. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $69.00 and a 1 year high of $86.24.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.50% and a return on equity of 14.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 7,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.38, for a total transaction of $583,695.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 23.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,874,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,623,552,000 after acquiring an additional 136,729 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,024,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,114,000 after acquiring an additional 137,679 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 28.6% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,135,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,406,000 after acquiring an additional 920,618 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,693,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,573,000 after acquiring an additional 531,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,530,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,060,000 after acquiring an additional 326,041 shares during the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.