McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Given Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• McCormick & Company, Incorporated has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with a 1-year price objective averaging $84.25.
• Recent analyst reports have shown some downgrades, including UBS lowering their price target from $83.00 to $79.00 and Wall Street Zen changing their rating from "hold" to "sell".
• The company's recent earnings report showed a quarterly EPS of $0.69, surpassing estimates, while revenue increased by 1.0% compared to the previous year.

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $84.25.

MKC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $83.00 to $79.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $82.00 to $76.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $69.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 20th.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MKC traded down $0.71 on Tuesday, hitting $65.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,423,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,193,977. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 12 month low of $65.47 and a 12 month high of $86.24. The company has a market capitalization of $17.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.65. The stock's 50-day moving average is $70.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.68.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. The company'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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 2nd quarter valued at about $249,087,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1,360.5% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,575,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $129,647,000 after buying an additional 1,467,254 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,737,793 shares of the company's stock valued at $283,399,000 after buying an additional 1,158,423 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 28.6% in the 1st 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. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 94.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt now owns 1,779,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,795,000 after buying an additional 865,500 shares in 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.