10 Best Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now

10 Best Food Stocks To Invest In Right Now: McCormick & Company Inc (MKC)

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (McCormick) manufactures, markets and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and other flavorful products to the food industry, retail outlets, food manufacturers and foodservice businesses. The Companys sales, distribution and production facilities are located in North America and Europe. Additional facilities are based in China, Australia, Mexico, India, Singapore, Central America, Thailand and South Africa. The Company operates in two business segments: consumer and industrial. During the fiscal year ended November 30, 2011, the Companys consumer business contributed 59% of sales and 79% of operating income and the industrial business contributed 41% of sales and 21% of operating income.

McCormicks products are sold directly to customers and also through brokers, wholesalers, and distributors. In the consumer segment, products are resold to consumers through a range of retail outlets, including grocery, ma ss merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount, and drug stores under a range of brands. In the industrial segment, products are used by food and beverage manufacturers as ingredients for their finished goods and by food service customers as ingredients for menu items to enhance the flavor of their foods. Customers for the industrial segment include food manufacturers and the foodservice industry supplied both directly and indirectly through distributors.

Consumer Business

The Companys brands in the Americas include McCormick, Lawrys and Club House. The Company also markets brands, such as Zatarains, Thai Kitchen and Simply Asia. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) its brands include the Ducros, Schwartz and Kamis brands of spices, herbs and seasonings and a line of Vahine brand dessert items. In the Asia/Pacific region its primary brand is McCormick, with the exception of India where its joint venture owns and trades under the ! Kohinoor brand. The Companys customers span a variety of retail o! utlets that include grocery, mass merchandise, warehouse clubs, discount and drug stores, served directly and indirectly through distributors or wholesalers. In addition to marketing its products to these customers, the Company is also a supplier of private label items, also known as store brands. More than 250 other brands are sold in the United States with additional brands in international markets.

Industrial Business

In its industrial business, the Company provides a range of products to multinational food manufacturers and foodservice customers. The foodservice customers are supplied both directly and indirectly through distributors. Its range of products include seasoning blends, natural spices and herbs, wet flavors, coating systems and compound flavors. In addition to a broad range of flavor solutions, we strive to achieve customer intimacy.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chuck Carnevale]

  Other reasons besides irregular earnings growth that caused a Dividend Champion to be rejected include one of my all-time favorites, valuation. Or to be more precise overvaluation. The following example, McCormick & Co. (MKC), represents one of my favorite Dividend Champions based on a very consistent above-average record of earnings growth that produced its impressive dividend streak. The only reason that this Dividend Champion was rejected was because of current overvaluation.

• [By Bruce Kennedy]

  (c) 2013 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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• [By Dan Caplinger]

  On Thursday, McCormick (NYSE: MKC  ) will release its latest quarterly results. With a solid history of delivering regular dividend growth, McCormick shares got very popular during the bull market, but the rise in interest rates have caused some to question whether the stock has gotten ahead of its fundamentals.

• [By Jonas Elmerraji]

  McCormick & Company (MKC) is the world's biggest spice, extract, and seasoning company, selling its food additives through retail grocery chains, food processing companies, and restaurants. The firm's brands include its namesake McCormick line, as well as Zatarain's, Lawry's, and Old Bay.

  Right now, McCormick's stock has a short interest ratio of 11.9, implying that more than two weeks of buying pressure would be needed for short sellers to cover their bets.

  McCormick owns the spice aisle at your local grocery store -- that's significant because those little containers of cinnamon and t! urmeric a! re expensive (and they come built-in with fat margins). As a result, the firm has been able to consistently book net margins in the low double-digits. McCormick's expertise gives it an economic moat; because industrial food companies often need to turn to the firm for help in developing new flavors, MKC has a Rolodex of sticky high-volume businesses.

  International sales have quietly been gaining steam at McCormick. Today, the firm earns 40 cents out of every sales dollar overseas, a proportion that should continue to climb, especially as developing markets develop a taste for pre-mixed seasoning that earn bigger profit margins. The firm's next earnings call in January could provide a squeeze catalyst for this stock.

source from Top Stocks To Buy For 2015:http://www.topstocksforum.com/10-best-food-stocks-to-invest-in-right-now-5.html