McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Rating Increased to Buy at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $91.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $85.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.00.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of MKC stock opened at $79.96 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.53. The stock has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a PE ratio of 27.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.75. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.71.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.15. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. The business had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This is an increase from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insider Activity

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total value of $391,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $2,210,237.61. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,850 in the last 90 days. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKC. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.8% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 76,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,324,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 93,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,687,000 after acquiring an additional 8,671 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 137,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,300,000 after purchasing an additional 10,605 shares during the period. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $761,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. 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.