Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Has $237,000 Stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,461 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 534 shares during the quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,359,068 shares of the company’s stock valued at $366,667,000 after purchasing an additional 1,577,636 shares during the last quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter worth $92,340,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 157.2% in the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,063,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,749,000 after purchasing an additional 649,908 shares during the period. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 369.2% in the fourth quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 695,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,554,000 after purchasing an additional 546,911 shares during the period. Finally, Scopus Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 711.3% in the third quarter. Scopus Asset Management L.P. now owns 547,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,420,000 after purchasing an additional 480,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MKC. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Consumer Edge lowered shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 1,726 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total transaction of $128,328.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Patricia A. Little sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total value of $1,511,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,732 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,997.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 1,726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.35, for a total transaction of $128,328.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,458 shares of company stock valued at $2,386,114 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

Shares of MKC opened at $74.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.80 and a 200 day moving average of $69.23. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $59.13 and a twelve month high of $94.39.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 5th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 64.12%.

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.