McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Argus

Argus cut shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

MKC has been the topic of several other research reports. 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 note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 0.9 %

MKC stock opened at $81.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.88. The company has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.86, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $66.88 and a twelve month high of $86.24.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.03, for a total transaction of $2,163,926.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,814.31. The trade was a 81.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 23.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Twin Tree Management LP bought a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.