McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Stock Price Down 2.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• McCormick shares fell 2.5% to $46.37, with trading volume broadly in line with its average session volume.
• Analysts have recently lowered several price targets, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target of $55.30; five analysts rate the stock Buy, seven Hold, and one Sell.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations with $0.86 in EPS and $2.02 billion in revenue, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share, equivalent to a 4.1% annualized yield.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) dropped 2.5% on Wednesday. The company traded as low as $46.01 and last traded at $46.37. Approximately 4,043,628 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 4,000,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.55.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $63.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $59.00 price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $55.30.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.39, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.66.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 1st. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 19.39%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.050-3.130 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 13th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's payout ratio is presently 34.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Lawrence Kurzius sold 205,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.69, for a total transaction of $10,829,797.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 296,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,648,508.48. This represents a 40.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 10.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aristotle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 231.9% during the 1st quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 12,664,378 shares of the company's stock worth $638,795,000 after acquiring an additional 8,848,235 shares during the period. XXEC Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the second quarter worth about $154,566,000. Amundi boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,023,544 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,068,000 after acquiring an additional 850,343 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 4,848.6% in the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,046,630 shares of the company's stock worth $52,792,000 after buying an additional 1,025,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 29.1% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 939,542 shares of the company's stock worth $47,390,000 after acquiring an additional 211,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the company's stock.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

McCormick & Company, Incorporated is a global manufacturer and marketer of spices, seasonings, condiments, sauces, and other flavor products. The company serves consumers through grocery, e-commerce, and foodservice channels, while also supplying flavor solutions to food manufacturers and other commercial customers.

Its consumer portfolio includes McCormick spices and seasonings, as well as brands such as French's, Frank's RedHot, Lawry's, OLD BAY, and Gourmet Garden. Its products are used in home cooking, restaurants, and packaged foods across a range of cuisines and meal occasions.

Founded by Willoughby M.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.