Kidder Stephen W Decreases Stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated $MKC

Kidder Stephen W reduced its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 93.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,945 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,175 shares during the period. Kidder Stephen W’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,659,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,047,000 after buying an additional 628,390 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 746,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,851,000 after buying an additional 69,034 shares during the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 37,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,509,000 after buying an additional 16,300 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,679,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,225,828,000 after buying an additional 314,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 3rd quarter worth $48,576,000. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gavin Hattersley bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.98 per share, with a total value of $105,960.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,959.88. This trade represents a 220.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 10.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MKC. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. HSBC cut their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $83.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.90.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MKC stock opened at $47.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.94. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $44.82 and a twelve month high of $78.16. The company has a market capitalization of $12.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 23.12% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 27th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is presently 31.48%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) is a global leader in spices, seasonings and flavor solutions. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, the company traces its origins to the late 19th century and has grown into a major manufacturer and marketer of branded and private‑label flavor products for consumer, industrial and foodservice markets.

McCormick’s product portfolio includes pure spices and herbs, blended seasonings, marinades, rubs, sauces, extracts and specialty flavorings, along with ingredient systems and custom flavor development for manufacturers and foodservice operators.