McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $78.2222.

Several research firms recently commented on MKC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $83.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $102.00 to $93.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a report on Tuesday, October 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, CEO Brendan M. Foley sold 57,144 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $3,746,360.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 108,652 shares in the company, valued at $7,123,225.12. The trade was a 34.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 39,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.54, for a total transaction of $2,517,963.56. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 146,158 shares of company stock worth $9,557,324 in the last quarter. 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 MKC. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 11.5% during the first quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 95,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,825,000 after acquiring an additional 9,834 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 22.0% during the first quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 25,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,099,000 after acquiring an additional 4,600 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 23.3% during the first quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 12,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2,138.1% in the 1st quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 363,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,952,000 after purchasing an additional 347,633 shares in the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

NYSE MKC opened at $68.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.84. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $63.15 and a twelve month high of $86.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.71.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.30% and a net margin of 11.46%.The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.000-3.050 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 12th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 29th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.44%.

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.