McCormick & Company, Incorporated $MKC Position Cut by Hemenway Trust Co LLC

Hemenway Trust Co LLC trimmed its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 43.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,567 shares of the company’s stock after selling 109,557 shares during the quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $9,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 74,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,101,000 after buying an additional 9,100 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 51.2% in the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 3,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 1,338 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter valued at $301,000. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 102,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,062,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MKC shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $67.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $83.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. HSBC lowered their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a report on Monday, April 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.27.

Insider Transactions at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In related news, major shareholder Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.63, for a total transaction of $3,581,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 296,992 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,273,536.96. The trade was a 14.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.09, for a total value of $335,450.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,119,775.64. The trade was a 13.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 60,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,256,550 in the last three months. 10.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

NYSE:MKC opened at $48.48 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $56.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.86. The firm has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.68. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $47.30 and a 52-week high of $78.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.79 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 13.29% and a net margin of 23.12%.McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 27th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is presently 31.48%.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) is a global leader in spices, seasonings and flavor solutions. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, the company traces its origins to the late 19th century and has grown into a major manufacturer and marketer of branded and private‑label flavor products for consumer, industrial and foodservice markets.

McCormick’s product portfolio includes pure spices and herbs, blended seasonings, marinades, rubs, sauces, extracts and specialty flavorings, along with ingredient systems and custom flavor development for manufacturers and foodservice operators.