McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) to Issue $0.45 Quarterly Dividend

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 26th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share on Monday, April 21st. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 38 consecutive years. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a dividend payout ratio of 54.1% meaning 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

MKC stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $80.85. The company had a trading volume of 2,775,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,839,692. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.85. The company has a market capitalization of $21.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $66.88 and a 1 year 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.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during 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 was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 6,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $475,814.31. This represents a 81.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 23.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.75.

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.