Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 6,096 McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKC. State Street Corp lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,706 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,003,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,158,000 after purchasing an additional 177,567 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,115,000 after purchasing an additional 568,276 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,463,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,409,000 after purchasing an additional 30,696 shares during the period. Finally, Nuance Investments LLC grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,052,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,644,000 after buying an additional 99,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MKC shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.00.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MKC opened at $81.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.32. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a one year low of $63.88 and a one year high of $85.49. The company has a market cap of $21.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 EPS. Research analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 61.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.