McCormick
MKC on NYSE. Mccormick sells spices, seasonings, and condiments to retailers, manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. Market value $12.0bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to August 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to November 2025.
Should I look at this?
Worth a closer look
Why it could be worth it
What to watch out for
Nothing big in our quick check. See what could go wrong below.
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $7.57 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 16.5 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 8 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 87 of 100. Price score: 91 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$45.40 a share, 5% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $43.25 to $72.41.
Dividend: 3.9% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $6.3bn | $6.4bn | $6.7bn | $6.7bn | $6.8bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 16.1% | 13.6% | 14.5% | 15.8% | 15.7% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 1.23 | 1.13 | 0.89 | 0.84 | 0.71 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.27bn | 0.27bn | 0.27bn | 0.27bn | 0.27bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)6 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.71× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsSlow, 4.1% a year
- Buying back its own sharesRoughly flat
The quarter to August 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $2 billion last quarter, up 17% on a year ago.
- Profit: $98 million, down 57% on a year ago.
- It keeps 13 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, down from 16 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $926 million, up from $655 million.
- About the same number of shares as a year ago.
- Debt is $4.8 billion more than cash, up from $4.3 billion a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in each of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| November 2024 | $1.8bn |
| February 2025 | $1.6bn |
| May 2025 | $1.7bn |
| August 2025 | $1.7bn |
| November 2025 | $1.9bn |
| February 2026 | $1.9bn |
| May 2026 | $1.9bn |
| August 2026 | $2.0bn |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| November 2024 | $215m |
| February 2025 | $162m |
| May 2025 | $175m |
| August 2025 | $226m |
| November 2025 | $227m |
| February 2026 | $1.0bn |
| May 2026 | $150m |
| August 2026 | $98m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- 21 January 2027
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 22 January 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 31 December 2026
Who owns it
7 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 6 last quarter. 950 funds in all.
- First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners
- Value
- $2m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
- Gardner Russo & QuinnTom Russo
- Value
- $2m
- Share of fund
- <0.1%
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aristotle Capital ManagementHoward Gleicher | $574m | 1.2% | Cut |
| Sanders CapitalLew Sanders | $409m | 0.4% | New |
| Boston PartnersBoston Partners team | $365m | 0.3% | Added |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $55m | 0.1% | Added |
| Select Equity GroupGeorge Loening | $37m | 0.2% | New |
| First Manhattan Co.First Manhattan partners | $2m | <0.1% | |
| Gardner Russo & QuinnTom Russo | $2m | <0.1% |
Sold out this quarter
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$1.1bn
- Vanguard Capital Management$837m
- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance$833m
- State Street$773m
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$698m
- Aristotle Capital Management$574mCut
- Sanders Capital$409mNew
- Boston Partners$365mAdded
- Geode Capital Management$342mAdded
- Morgan Stanley$249mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
4 investors own more than 5%.
- Lawrence E. KurziusInsider or founder9.9%−1.9 ptsSince 10 August 2026
- Vanguard Capital ManagementPassive investor7.5%Since 31 March 2026
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor5.5%Since 31 March 2026
- Brendan M. FoleyInsider or founder5.1%Since 6 February 2026
What they said
See Item 3 above. The Reporting Person does not have any current plans or proposals which relate to or would result in any transaction, event or action enumerated in paragraphs (a) through (j) of Item 4 of Schedule 13D. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Reporting Person…
Read the filing - The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Lawrence E. Kurzius Insider or founder | 9.9%−1.9 pts | 10 August 2026 | |
Vanguard Capital Management Passive investor | 7.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 5.5% | 31 March 2026 | |
Brendan M. Foley Insider or founder | 5.1% | 6 February 2026 | What they saidSee Item 3 above. The Reporting Person does not have any current plans or proposals which relate to or would result in any transaction, event or action enumerated in paragraphs (a) through (j) of Item 4 of Schedule 13D. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Reporting Person… Read the filing |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
In the last 12 months, 2 insiders bought $205,797 of shares on the open market. 3 sold $5m.
- Hattersley GavinDirectorBought
- Date
- 2 October 2026
- Shares
- 1,000
- Price
- $44.61
- Value
- $44,610
- Conway Michael AaronDirectorBought
- Date
- 23 July 2026
- Shares
- 1,100
- Price
- $50.21
- Value
- $55,227
- Hattersley GavinDirectorBought
- Date
- 10 April 2026
- Shares
- 2,000
- Price
- $52.98
- Value
- $105,960
- MANGAN MICHAEL DDirectorSold
- Date
- 9 February 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $67.92
- Value
- $339,600
- Tapiero JacquesDirectorSold
- Date
- 5 February 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $67.09
- Value
- $335,450
- Tapiero JacquesDirectorSold
- Date
- 3 February 2026
- Shares
- 5,000
- Price
- $63.85
- Value
- $319,250
- Foley Brendan MChairman, President & CEOSold
- Date
- 12 November 2025
- Shares
- 57,144
- Price
- $65.56
- Value
- $4m
| Date | Who | Did | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 October 2026 | Hattersley Gavin Director | Bought | 1,000 | $44.61 | $44,610 |
| 23 July 2026 | Conway Michael Aaron Director | Bought | 1,100 | $50.21 | $55,227 |
| 10 April 2026 | Hattersley Gavin Director | Bought | 2,000 | $52.98 | $105,960 |
| 9 February 2026 | MANGAN MICHAEL D Director | Sold | 5,000 | $67.92 | $339,600 |
| 5 February 2026 | Tapiero Jacques Director | Sold | 5,000 | $67.09 | $335,450 |
| 3 February 2026 | Tapiero Jacques Director | Sold | 5,000 | $63.85 | $319,250 |
| 12 November 2025 | Foley Brendan M Chairman, President & CEO | Sold | 57,144 | $65.56 | $4m |
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
Warning signs in its filings
Problems the company itself reported to the SEC, in its own words.
None of the serious warning signs we check for were found. 1 thing worth knowing.
We look for five warning signs: doubt it can keep going, weak checks on its own accounts, a notice that its past accounts can't be relied on, a change of auditor, and one customer bringing in a big share of sales. We don't check lawsuits, investigations or debt yet.
We checked the auditor's report, internal controls, restatement notices, auditor changes and big customers in the 10-K filed 22 Jan 2026, plus the 10-Q filed 1 Oct 2026 and 13 later 8-Ks.
Changed auditor
Worth knowingThe company changed its auditor (the firm that checks its books) in the last two years.
“On September 24, 2026, the Audit Committee (the “ Audit Committee ”) of the Board of Directors of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (the “ Company ”) dismissed Ernst & Young LLP (“ EY ”) as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm”
From an 8-K filed 28 September 2026: Change of auditor. Read it in the filing
A 10-K is the yearly report every US company files with the SEC. An 8-K is a short notice of a big event.
What could go wrong
Cheap for a reason is the question the numbers cannot answer.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
What changed in the risks this year
Companies must list what could hurt them each year. These are the parts that changed since last year’s report.
Changes in global trade policies have impacted and may continue to impact our financial condition or results of operations.
Already happenedChanges in global trade policies, including tariffs, have caused inflationary pressures and higher costs on certain raw materials and imports. These actions have impacted our business through increased costs and uncertainty. If maintained, the tariffs, as well as related measures that have been taken and which could be taken by other countries in the future could pose a risk to our business and results of operations. The extent and duration of the tariffs and the resulting impact on general economic conditions and on our business are uncertain and depend on various factors, such as legal challenges to the applicability of these tariffs, negotiations between affected countries, the responses of other countries or regions, exemptions, exclusions or other relief that may be granted, availability and cost of alternative sources of supply, and demand for our products in affected markets.
Read more
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.