CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.06 EPS

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.46 by $0.06, Zacks reports. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 57.34%.

CME Group Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $6.48 on Wednesday, reaching $248.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 597,448 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,811,555. CME Group has a 52 week low of $190.70 and a 52 week high of $253.53. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $89.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.37%.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CME has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $229.27.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.