Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV Grows Position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV raised its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,263 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 245 shares during the quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the fourth quarter worth $466,000. Somerville Kurt F grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 96,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,325,000 after buying an additional 24,467 shares in the last quarter. DJE Kapital AG purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,228,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter valued at about $234,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 136,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,547,000 after purchasing an additional 19,491 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus lowered shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, VP Gregory Repas sold 2,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $223,905.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 2,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,497.72. This represents a 54.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $20,242,820.97. This represents a 16.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,392 shares of company stock valued at $4,898,101 over the last 90 days. 23.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE MKC opened at $71.13 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $76.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.26. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 12 month low of $66.88 and a 12 month high of $86.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.28, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.74.

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders 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 2.53%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is currently 61.86%.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.