Valmark Advisers Inc. Purchases 825 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 26.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,945 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter valued at $92,340,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 157.2% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,063,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,749,000 after purchasing an additional 649,908 shares during the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 369.2% in the fourth quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 695,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,554,000 after purchasing an additional 546,911 shares during the last quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 711.3% in the third quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 547,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,420,000 after purchasing an additional 480,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 183.2% in the third quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 641,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,535,000 after purchasing an additional 415,269 shares during the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 1,726 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total transaction of $128,328.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Patricia A. Little sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total value of $1,511,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,732 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,997.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 1,726 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total transaction of $128,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,726 shares of company stock worth $2,504,728 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 0.2 %

MKC stock opened at $75.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.68. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $59.13 and a 52 week high of $94.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.91.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 64.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MKC shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased 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 note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.88.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company 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.