McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Given New $69.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $66.00 to $69.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America upped their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” 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 boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target 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. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.00.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MKC opened at $74.90 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.96. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.33 and a 1-year high of $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 15.30%. Sell-side analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $386,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,182,302.78. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 Investors Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MKC. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 98.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 46,543 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,302,000 after acquiring an additional 23,033 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 45.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 24,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,754,000 after purchasing an additional 7,730 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 159,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,321,000 after buying an additional 3,992 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 11.2% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 13,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $947,000 after buying an additional 1,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 71.7% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 9,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $689,000 after buying an additional 4,058 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

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.