McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Raised to “Buy” at Jefferies Financial Group

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a $91.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $85.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 11.06% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on MKC. Bank of America increased their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $81.00.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $81.94 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.53. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $63.88 and a 1-year high of $85.49. The company has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.87, a PEG ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.15. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total value of $395,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 40,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,194,444. The trade was a 11.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,850 in the last 90 days. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McCormick & Company, Incorporated

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $20,227,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 71.5% in the third quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 140,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,552,000 after purchasing an additional 58,511 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 57.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 40,077 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.1% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 632,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,882,000 after purchasing an additional 6,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the third quarter worth $2,819,000. 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.