McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MKC. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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 upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $81.00.

Insider Activity at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total transaction of $395,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 40,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,194,444. The trade was a 11.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,850 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McCormick & Company, Incorporated

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the third quarter worth $40,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the third quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

MKC traded up $0.79 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $76.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,201,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,887,270. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $77.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.55. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $63.88 and a 52-week high of $85.49. The company has a market capitalization of $20.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This is an increase from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.22%.

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.