McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Short Interest Update

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,340,000 shares, an increase of 19.5% from the November 30th total of 4,470,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MKC traded up $0.79 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.24. 1,201,095 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,887,270. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.55. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $63.88 and a 1 year high of $85.49.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 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 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. This is a boost from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is presently 61.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MKC shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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 note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $386,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $2,182,302.78. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,499,000 after buying an additional 1,114,706 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 97,525.5% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 976,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,256,000 after acquiring an additional 975,255 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 2nd quarter worth $51,286,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2,778.8% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 456,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,606,000 after purchasing an additional 441,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 111.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 733,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,041,000 after purchasing an additional 386,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.