Brokerages Set McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Target Price at $83.14

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $83.14.

MKC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

Shares of MKC stock opened at $74.78 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.00. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a one year low of $66.88 and a one year high of $86.24. The firm has a market cap of $20.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, VP Gregory Repas sold 2,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total value of $223,905.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 2,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,497.72. The trade was a 54.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.03, for a total value of $2,163,926.76. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,842 shares of company stock worth $6,478,332. Insiders own 23.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 337.0% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 1,011 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 1st quarter worth $59,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 52.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,003,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,596,000 after purchasing an additional 347,141 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 8,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the first quarter valued at about $980,000. 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.