McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a sell rating to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $79.57.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Down 0.3 %

MKC stock opened at $80.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.69 and a quick ratio of 0.31. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $59.13 and a 52-week high of $85.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.77.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.15. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 14.63%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th will be given a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 7th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,875,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 199,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,944,350. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,094,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.6% during the second quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 5,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.9% during the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% during the first quarter. Taylor Frigon Capital Management LLC now owns 15,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,193,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.5% during the second quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

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.