Short Interest in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Increases By 22.6%

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,630,000 shares, an increase of 22.6% from the May 15th total of 5,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days.

MKC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on McCormick & Company, Incorporated in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. TheStreet cut McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $96.00 to $99.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

MKC stock opened at $82.54 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.80, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $77.85 and a twelve month high of $107.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.27.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 29th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.04. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The firm had revenue of $1.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 11th were given a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 8th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.43%.

In other news, CFO Michael R. Smith sold 19,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.04, for a total value of $2,079,343.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,678,321. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 15.90% of the company’s stock.

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,955,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,889,787,000 after buying an additional 462,997 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,435,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,039,441,000 after acquiring an additional 65,272 shares during the period. Fundsmith LLP grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Fundsmith LLP now owns 18,910,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,826,984,000 after purchasing an additional 197,289 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,765,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,334,848,000 after purchasing an additional 481,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,728,544 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,636,000 after purchasing an additional 113,236 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.86% of the company’s stock.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated (Get Rating)

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.

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