McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Shares Acquired by Tufton Capital Management

Tufton Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 207.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 34,993 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 23,606 shares during the period. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $2,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MKC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,955,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,889,787,000 after buying an additional 462,997 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 92,736.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,770,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,334,000 after purchasing an additional 5,764,492 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.9% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,404,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,737,000 after purchasing an additional 101,633 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,438,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,108,000 after purchasing an additional 93,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.3% during the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,563,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,618,000 after purchasing an additional 152,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MKC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 7,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $539,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,738. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Patricia A. Little sold 20,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $1,511,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,997.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 7,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total transaction of $539,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,738. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 32,000 shares of company stock worth $2,376,400. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

NYSE MKC traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $72.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 342,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,070,798. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.48. The stock has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $59.13 and a 52 week high of $94.39.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.55 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 5th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 64.12%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Profile

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.