McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 on April 21st

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 26th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share on Monday, April 21st. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 7th.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated has raised its dividend by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 38 years. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a payout ratio of 54.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect McCormick & Company, Incorporated to earn $3.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.4%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

Shares of MKC stock opened at $76.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.76. 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 company has a market capitalization of $20.48 billion, a PE ratio of 26.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71.

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). The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 14.89%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. Analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Argus downgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.14.

Insider Transactions at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In related news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.03, for a total transaction of $2,163,926.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $475,814.31. This trade represents a 81.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total transaction of $4,090,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 80,842 shares of company stock worth $6,478,332. Insiders own 23.80% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company 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.