Quest Partners LLC Buys New Stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKC. Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 374.3% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 116,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,948,000 after acquiring an additional 91,676 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 677,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,334,000 after acquiring an additional 85,242 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 49.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 826,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,545,000 after acquiring an additional 271,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 11,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after acquiring an additional 3,607 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKC has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Argus raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.75, for a total transaction of $5,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares in the company, valued at $14,695,277.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Patricia A. Little sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $1,511,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,732 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,997.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 80,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.75, for a total transaction of $5,900,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 199,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,695,277.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 111,458 shares of company stock worth $8,286,114. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE MKC opened at $73.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $19.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.73. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a one year low of $59.13 and a one year high of $94.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.46.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is currently 64.12%.

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.