McCormick’s Margins Are Expected to Rebound in Fiscal 4Q15
Moving averages
As of January 21, 2016, McCormick (MKC) closed at $80.0. It trades 4.4% below its 100-day moving average, 5.8% below its 50-day moving average, and 5.6% below its 20-day moving average. The stock price rose 1% in the last two months. McCormick’s peers in the industry include ConAgra Foods (CAG), Flowers Foods (FLO), Dean Foods (DF), and General Mills (GIS).
ConAgra Foods (CAG) closed at $39.3, or 4.2% below its 100-day moving averages, 3.6% below its 50-day moving average, and 4% below its 20-day moving average. The stock rose 3% in the last two months.
Flowers Foods (FLO) closed at $20.3, or 15%, 9.6%, and 5.2% below its 100-day, 50-day, and 20-day moving averages, respectively, and fell 20% during the last two months. Dean Foods is trading 4.7%, 3.0%, and 4.8% above its 100-day, 50-day, and 20-day moving averages, respectively, and fell 6.2% in the last two months. GIS fell 0.55% in the last two months and is trading 5.2%, 5.5%, and 4.5%, respectively, below its 100-day, 50-day, and 20-day moving averages. DF and GIS closed at $18.6 and $54.1 on January 21, respectively.
The Guggenheim S&P Equal Weight Consumer Staples ETF (RHS) invests 2.7% in MKC, 2.8%in CAG, and 2.6% in GIS. The ETF is trading 0.75%, 2.5%, and 3.3% below its 100-day, 50-day, and 20-day moving averages, respectively. It closed at $110.2 on January 21.
Analysts’ estimates
Analysts’ estimates indicate upsides of 7.1% for MKC, 14.1% for CAG, 17.9% for FLO, 7.5% for DF, and 7.9% for GIS from their current levels on January 21 for the next 12-month period. As of January 21, DF reported positive YTD (year-to-date) returns of 8.3% while MKC, CAG, FLO, and GIS reported returns of -6.8%, -6.9%, -5.4%, and -6.1%, respectively. Also, the ETF reported YTD returns of -5.0%.
In the next part of the series, we’ll see the earnings trend of the company and the earnings per share estimates for fiscal 2015. We’ll further analyze how the company performed in its last reported fiscal 3Q15 and what it projects for fiscal 2015.
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