McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Announces Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83, Zacks reports. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%.

McDonald’s Trading Up 4.7 %

MCD opened at $308.22 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $290.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.16. The company has a market capitalization of $220.88 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCD. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.