Howland Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,093 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Howland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 302,174 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC owned about 0.11% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated worth $23,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MKC. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,706 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,115,000 after acquiring an additional 568,276 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2,778.8% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 456,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,606,000 after acquiring an additional 441,048 shares in the last quarter. Covea Finance bought a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,740,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 321.2% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 449,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,298,000 after acquiring an additional 343,070 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MKC shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. One 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

NYSE MKC opened at $78.43 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $78.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 12-month low of $64.33 and a 12-month high of $85.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 14.89%. Analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.45 dividend. 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 yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is currently 61.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total transaction of $386,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 28,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,182,302.78. The trade was a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 22.90% 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.