Dividend Aristocrats In Focus: McCormick & Company

Updated on January 27th, 2026 by Bob Ciura

In order to become a Dividend Aristocrat, a company must have a strong brand and a dominant industry position.

The Dividend Aristocrats are a group of 69 companies in the S&P 500 Index, with 25+ consecutive years of dividend increases.

With this in mind, we have created a list of all 69 Dividend Aristocrats.

You can download your free copy of the Dividend Aristocrats list, along with important financial metrics such as price-to-earnings ratios and dividend yields, by clicking on the link below:

Disclaimer: Sure Dividend is not affiliated with S&P Global in any way. S&P Global owns and maintains The Dividend Aristocrats Index. The information in this article and downloadable spreadsheet is based on Sure Dividend’s own review, summary, and analysis of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) and other sources, and is meant to help individual investors better understand this ETF and the index upon which it is based. None of the information in this article or spreadsheet is official data from S&P Global. Consult S&P Global for official information.

A great example of a Dividend Aristocrat with an industry-leading brand is consumer products company McCormick & Company (MKC).

McCormick has paid dividends each year since 1925 and has increased its dividend for 40 years in a row.

Its dividend growth streak is due to its high-quality business. McCormick is the global leader in food spices, seasonings, and flavors. It has grown its leadership position organically and also through acquisitions.

This has fueled McCormick’s dividend growth for many years.

Business Overview

McCormick was formed in 1889, when founder Willoughby M. McCormick started making flavors and extracts in his cellar, which he then sold door-to-door. At first, the business grew at a gradual pace.

In 1896, McCormick entered spices by issuing its first McCormick’s Cookbook. Over time, the company has steadily built itself into the leading spices and seasonings company in the world.

McCormick & Company produces, markets, and distributes seasoning mixes, spices, condiments, and other products to customers in the food industry.

Major brands include McCormick, Lawrys, Stubb’s, Club House, Ducros, Schwartz, Kamis, Kohinoor, Zatarains, Thai Kitchen, and Simply Asia.

On November 18th, 2025, McCormick increased its quarterly dividend 6.7% to $0.48, extending the company’s dividend growth streak to 40 consecutive years.

On January 22nd, 2026, McCormick reported fourth quarter and full year results. For the quarter, revenue improved 2.8% to $1.85 billion, which matched estimates.

Adjusted earnings-per-share of $0.86 compared to $0.80 in the prior year, but this was $0.02 below expectations. For the year, revenue grew 2% to $6.8 billion while adjusted earnings-per-share of $2.93 was up slightly up from $2.92 in 2024.

For the quarter, organic growth was 2.1% as volume was up 0.2% and price added 1.9%. The Consumer segment grew 3.1% for the period as volume and mix improved 1.0% while higher prices added 2.1%.

Organic growth for the Americas, EMEA, and Asia/Pacific grew 3.2%, 3.1%, and 1.8%, respectively. Flavor Solutions increased 0.7% from the prior year as a 1.6% contribution from pricing was partially offset by a 0.9% decrease in volume.

Asia/Pacific was up 2.5%, the Americas grew 1.5%, and EMEA was lower by 3.1%. The company stated that trade tensions and inflation would be headwinds going forward.

McCormick provided guidance for 2026 as well. The company expects adjusted earnings-per-share in a range of $3.05 to $3.13 for the year.

Growth Prospects

Going forward, there is plenty of room for continued growth for McCormick, due to growth in the emerging markets, and also acquisitions.

First, international growth is a strong catalyst for McCormick. Higher demand for herbs and spices, particularly in the emerging markets, is promising. Separately, acquisitions are a major part of McCormick’s growth strategy.

In 2018, McCormick acquired Frank’s RedHot and French’s as part of a $4.2 billion purchase of RB Foods, the food division of consumer products giant Reckitt Benckiser (RGBLY).

This was the largest deal in McCormick’s history, and has been a major driver of growth over the past several years.

McCormick has utilized its leadership position in industry to quickly expand these top brands globally. Frank’s RedHot is the leading hot sauce brand in the U.S., while French’s leads the mustard category.

The common theme within McCormick’s M&A strategy is that it seeks out top brands that lead their respective categories, that can be easily scaled up.

This theme is clear once again with the acquisitions of Cholula Hot Sauce and FONA International.

First, in November 2020 McCormick acquired Cholula, the premium Mexican hot sauce brand, for $800 million. This acquisition fit perfectly into McCormick’s strategy of acquiring top-quality brands and quickly scaling them.

McCormick followed this up with the December 2020 acquisition of FONA International, a leading manufacturer of clean and natural flavors with customers across the food, beverage, and nutritional markets.

McCormick acquired FONA International for $710 million in cash.

We expect that the company’s various acquisitions, combined with its own strong brands, will result in strong earnings-per-share growth going forward.

We estimate that McCormick can grow earnings at a rate of 7% per year through fiscal 2031.

Competitive Advantages & Recession Performance

The two most important competitive advantages for McCormick are its brand strength and global scale. McCormick is the top brand in the global spices and seasonings industry, which is expected to grow for the next five years.

As a result, this gives McCormick leverage with retailers and pricing power. These qualities help the company generate consistent profits each year, even when the economy enters recession.

McCormick managed to grow earnings-per-share each year during the last recession. Earnings-per-share during the Great Recession are below:

2007 earnings-per-share of $1.92
2008 earnings-per-share of $2.14 (11% increase)
2009 earnings-per-share of $2.34 (9.3% increase)
2010 earnings-per-share of $2.65 (13% increase)

As you can see, McCormick & Company grew earnings-per-share every year through the Great Recession.

Not only that, the company averaged double-digit annual growth each year, which was highly impressive and a very rare accomplishment, even for a Dividend Aristocrat.

Valuation & Expected Returns

At the midpoint of full-year guidance, McCormick expects adjusted earnings-per-share of roughly $3.09 this year. As a result, the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 19.7.

This is below our fair value price-to-earnings ratio of ~25. Now, the stock appears to be undervalued.

If the P/E multiple expands to our target P/E over the next five years, the corresponding impact would increase shareholder returns by 4.8% per year over the next five years.

Shareholder returns will also be derived from expected earnings growth and dividends. The company’s strong brand and multiple catalysts for future growth should add up to higher EPS growth as well.

We expect MKC to grow its EPS by 7% per year, while the stock has a 3.1% current dividend yield. Total annual returns could reach 14.4% per year over the next five years.

Final Thoughts

McCormick dominates the spices and seasonings category. Its strong brands provide the company with high-profit margins and growth opportunities, both in the U.S. and the international markets.

McCormick has a market-beating dividend yield of 3.1%, and has a very strong dividend growth history. The company should be able to lift the dividend each year, likely at a mid-to-high single-digit annual rate.

With an expected rate of return of 14.4% annually going forward, we rate the stock a buy.

Additionally, the following Sure Dividend databases contain the most reliable dividend growers in our investment universe:

The Dividend Champions: Dividend stocks with 25+ years of dividend increases, including those that may not qualify as Dividend Aristocrats.
The Dividend Kings: considered to be the ultimate dividend growth stocks, the Dividend Kings list is comprised of stocks with 50+ years of consecutive dividend increases

If you’re looking for stocks with unique dividend characteristics, consider the following Sure Dividend databases:

The major domestic stock market indices are another solid resource for finding investment ideas. Sure Dividend compiles the following stock market databases and updates them monthly: