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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) was upgraded by analysts 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 objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.42% from the stock’s current price.

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of MKC opened at $77.50 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.48. The stock has a market cap of $20.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.75. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a one year low of $63.88 and a one year high of $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.71.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In related news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total transaction of $391,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 28,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,210,237.61. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the third quarter worth about $20,227,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC raised its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 140,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,552,000 after buying an additional 58,511 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 40,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after buying an additional 14,652 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings 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 valued at $44,882,000 after acquiring an additional 6,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the third quarter worth approximately $2,819,000. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.