McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Rating Lowered to Hold at Argus

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) was downgraded by Argus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MKC stock opened at $81.47 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $79.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71. 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 has a 1-year low of $66.88 and a 1-year high of $86.24.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.03, for a total transaction of $2,163,926.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,177 shares in the company, valued at $475,814.31. This represents a 81.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 23.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 4th quarter worth $223,202,000. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter worth $104,863,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,706 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,843,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,771,000 after purchasing an additional 915,807 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,115,000 after purchasing an additional 568,276 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

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.