McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Price Target Cut to $58.00 by Analysts at Barclays

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) had its target price cut by Barclays from $67.00 to $58.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $82.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Zacks Research cut McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. UBS Group reduced their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $67.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, HSBC lowered their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $69.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.20.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

MKC stock opened at $50.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $63.01 and its 200 day moving average is $65.27. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $48.31 and a 52 week high of $83.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.70.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.54% and a return on equity of 14.27%. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.92, for a total transaction of $339,600.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 43,029 shares in the company, valued at $2,922,529.68. The trade was a 10.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.09, for a total value of $335,450.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,119,775.64. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,947,300. Insiders own 10.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,679,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,225,828,000 after buying an additional 314,252 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,522,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,632,000 after acquiring an additional 747,844 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,508,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $441,571,000 after acquiring an additional 59,587 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,422,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,467,000 after purchasing an additional 190,607 shares during the period. Finally, Aristotle Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 4th quarter valued at $259,918,000. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting McCormick & Company, Incorporated this week:

• Positive Sentiment: McCormick and Unilever announced a deal to combine Unilever’s foods business with McCormick, creating a much larger flavor/foods platform with projected cost synergies (company forecasts ~$600M run‑rate) and management saying the deal should be accretive to growth and EPS. This is the primary fundamental catalyst behind today’s trading. McCormick press release
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat consensus: EPS $0.66 vs. ~$0.63 estimate and revenue $1.87B (up ~16.7% y/y). Management reaffirmed FY26 outlook — supportive near‑term fundamentals that argue the core business remains resilient. Zacks Q1 coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Notable commentary from prominent market voices (e.g., Jim Cramer) expressed optimism about the combined company, which can support speculative buying and reduce some investor fear around the strategic rationale. Yahoo Finance: Jim Cramer
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary frames MKC as a deep‑value, high‑income name at current levels (strong dividend history), implying longer‑term upside if execution and the merger proceed smoothly. This is an outlook piece rather than new corporate action. MarketBeat analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory, governance and shareholder risk: two law firms have launched investigations into whether the Unilever transaction is fair to McCormick shareholders — a signal that activists or litigation could complicate or delay the deal and pressure sentiment. TMCNet: Halper Sadeh probe Ademi LLP alert
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and price‑target cuts (Barclays trimmed its target and tone turned cautious) are pressuring the stock — analysts cite dilution risk, execution complexity and near‑term integration/earnings uncertainty. 247WallSt coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Short‑term technical/psychological pressure: shares slid to fresh 52‑week lows on heavy volume after the merger news, triggering stops and volatility; options flow also showed elevated call activity (speculative). This amplification of moves explains the steep intraday decline. MSN: 52-week low story

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) is a global leader in spices, seasonings and flavor solutions. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, the company traces its origins to the late 19th century and has grown into a major manufacturer and marketer of branded and private‑label flavor products for consumer, industrial and foodservice markets.

McCormick’s product portfolio includes pure spices and herbs, blended seasonings, marinades, rubs, sauces, extracts and specialty flavorings, along with ingredient systems and custom flavor development for manufacturers and foodservice operators.