Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Purchases 336 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 610.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 391 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $32,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,737,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,419,653,000 after buying an additional 303,973 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,024,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,114,000 after acquiring an additional 137,679 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,693,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,573,000 after buying an additional 531,060 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 3,530,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,060,000 after purchasing an additional 326,041 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,215,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $245,114,000 after acquiring an additional 190,856 shares in the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Argus cut McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total transaction of $4,090,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 247,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,242,820.97. This trade represents a 16.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 7,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.38, for a total transaction of $583,695.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,392 shares of company stock worth $4,898,101. 23.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 2.5%

McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $73.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $19.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $74.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.98. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a one year low of $66.88 and a one year high of $86.24.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated 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.