McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.45 Per Share

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, November 19th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share on Monday, January 13th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This is an increase from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 37 consecutive years. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a dividend payout ratio of 53.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect McCormick & Company, Incorporated to earn $3.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.8%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MKC opened at $77.13 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.85 and its 200 day moving average is $76.23. The stock has a market cap of $20.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.77. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $63.67 and a 1-year high of $85.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.15. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total value of $391,650.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,210,237.61. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,850 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $79.57.

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.