Citi analyst Thomas Palmer maintained a Hold rating on McCormick & Company (MKC – Research Report) yesterday and set a price target of $80.00.
Thomas Palmer has given his Hold rating due to a combination of factors impacting McCormick & Company’s stock. The company recently reported a first-quarter earnings per share (EPS) miss, yet it maintained its fiscal year 2025 outlook. Despite this setback, McCormick presented a strong case during its earnings call, explaining that the margin challenges faced in the first quarter are expected to diminish in the second quarter and the latter half of 2025. Additionally, the company is not significantly affected by the current issues troubling other U.S. food companies, such as reduced snacking and shifts away from artificial ingredients.
Palmer also notes that while McCormick’s stock does not present a clear valuation upside, the company’s guidance being weighted towards the second half of the year introduces some risk. However, McCormick’s position as a leading manufacturer of private label spices and its potential to benefit from trends like increased scratch cooking and reformulations to remove artificial ingredients offer a degree of stability. Therefore, despite the challenges, the company’s strategic positioning and market trends justify a Hold rating.
In another report released yesterday, Barclays also maintained a Hold rating on the stock with a $82.00 price target.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 89 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock. This means that over the past quarter there has been an increase of insiders selling their shares of MKC in relation to earlier this year.