McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Upgraded to “Buy” at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $90.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $86.00.

MKC has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.50.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MKC opened at $74.54 on Wednesday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $63.88 and a twelve month high of $85.49. The firm has a market cap of $20.00 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.50, for a total transaction of $392,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 40,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,174,226. This trade represents a 11.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of McCormick & Company, Incorporated

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKC. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,706 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 97,525.5% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 976,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,256,000 after purchasing an additional 975,255 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 2nd quarter valued at $51,286,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2,778.8% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 456,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,606,000 after buying an additional 441,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 111.2% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 733,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,041,000 after buying an additional 386,320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

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.