Strong growth justifies this high p/e

Article Excerpt

MCCORMICK & CO. INC. $72 (New York symbol MKC; Income Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 132.7 million; Market cap: $9.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.mccormick.com) earned $407.8 million, or $3.04 a share, in its 2012 fiscal year, which ended November 30, 2012. That’s up 9.0% from $374.2 million, or $2.79 a share, in 2011. Sales rose 8.6%, to $4.0 billion from $3.7 billion. The company is benefiting from its recent purchases of spice makers and food companies in India and Eastern Europe. As well, its ongoing cost-cutting plan saved it $56 million in 2012. Earnings should rise to between $3.15 and $3.23 a share in 2013. The stock trades at a high but still reasonable 22.6 times the midpoint of that range. McCormick is a buy. buy…