AMI Asset Management Corp Acquires 27,424 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

AMI Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 7.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 402,549 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,424 shares during the period. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $30,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 138,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,450,000 after buying an additional 7,952 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 40,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,080,000 after buying an additional 6,999 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,078,000 after buying an additional 1,731 shares during the period. Finally, AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 3rd quarter worth $295,000. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MKC. Argus upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.25.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.75, for a total value of $5,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,695,277.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 80,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.75, for a total value of $5,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,695,277.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 2,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $207,386.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 84,458 shares of company stock valued at $6,235,714. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MKC traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $69.87. 1,059,623 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,190,798. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.88 and a 200 day moving average of $70.20. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $59.13 and a twelve month high of $90.45. The company has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.69.

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.31%.

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.