AQR Capital Management LLC Purchases 324,277 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated $MKC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in McCormick & Company, acquiring an additional 324,277 shares, bringing its total to 576,377 shares valued at approximately $47.4 million.
• After reporting a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.69, McCormick exceeded analyst expectations of $0.65, while revenue rose 1.0% year-over-year to $1.66 billion.
• McCormick's recent dividend of $0.45 per share reflects an annualized yield of 2.5%, with the company maintaining a payout ratio of 62.50%.

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Free Report) by 128.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 576,377 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 324,277 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.21% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated worth $47,442,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,874,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,623,552,000 after acquiring an additional 136,729 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 28.6% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,135,648 shares of the company's stock valued at $340,406,000 after buying an additional 920,618 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,046,489 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,264,000 after acquiring an additional 43,353 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1,360.5% during the first quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,575,104 shares of the company's stock worth $129,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,467,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,543,063 shares of the company's stock worth $127,010,000 after acquiring an additional 33,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $69.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $84.25.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock traded down $0.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $69.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,795,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,328,224. The stock has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.65. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $67.71 and a 52 week high of $86.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $70.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, June 26th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.04. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.43% and a net margin of 11.50%.The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.030-3.080 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.