McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC) To Go Ex-Dividend on October 7th

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 24th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share on Monday, October 21st. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 7th.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 37 years. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a dividend payout ratio of 54.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect McCormick & Company, Incorporated to earn $3.06 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.9%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE MKC opened at $83.38 on Thursday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $59.13 and a 1-year high of $85.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.12 and a 200-day moving average of $74.64. The firm has a market cap of $22.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.76.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 27th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.07%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MKC. Bank of America upped their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Citigroup upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,875,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,944,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

McCormick & Company, Incorporated manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to the food industry. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Flavor Solutions. The Consumer segment offers spices, herbs, and seasonings, as well as condiments and sauces, and desserts.