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

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of CME Group stock traded up $5.36 on Wednesday, reaching $247.10. The company had a trading volume of 652,074 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,815,242. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $235.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.91. The firm has a market cap of $89.05 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $253.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 48.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

CME Group announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.