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

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) issued 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 net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%.

CME Group Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $248.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $89.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. CME Group has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $253.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $235.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.08.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CME has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.67.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.