Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Decreases Stock Position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 239,578 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,198 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $18,265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wallington Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 3.4% in the third quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 4,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 8,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $695,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.9% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 20,134 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.9% during the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 19,482 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.3% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $707,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.00.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of MKC stock opened at $74.90 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.66 and a 200 day moving average of $77.99. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.33 and a 1 year high of $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. As a group, research analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is 61.22%.

Insider Transactions at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In related news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total transaction of $391,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $2,210,237.61. The trade was a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850 over the last 90 days. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

McCormick & Co, Inc engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. It operates through the Consumer and Flavor Solutions segments. The Consumer segment sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and sauces.