Zacks: Analysts Anticipate CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Will Post Earnings of $1.88 Per Share

Brokerages expect CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME – Get Rating) to report earnings of $1.88 per share for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks. Six analysts have issued estimates for CME Group’s earnings, with the lowest EPS estimate coming in at $1.85 and the highest estimate coming in at $1.91. CME Group posted earnings per share of $1.64 during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 14.6%. The company is scheduled to report its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that CME Group will report full-year earnings of $7.87 per share for the current financial year, with EPS estimates ranging from $7.40 to $8.35. For the next fiscal year, analysts expect that the company will report earnings of $8.36 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $7.84 to $9.33. Zacks Investment Research’s EPS averages are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that follow CME Group.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 27th. The financial services provider reported $2.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.11. CME Group had a return on equity of 9.29% and a net margin of 57.98%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis.

Several brokerages have commented on CME. Argus upgraded CME Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on CME Group from $275.00 to $269.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $262.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 19th. Raymond James raised their target price on CME Group from $240.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on CME Group in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $247.14.

In related news, insider Sean Tully sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.00, for a total value of $687,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel R. Glickman sold 750 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.30, for a total value of $175,725.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,750 shares of company stock valued at $2,269,925. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CME. Capital Fund Management S.A. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 147.0% during the third quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 148,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,665,000 after buying an additional 88,229 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in CME Group by 105.9% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 123,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,908,000 after buying an additional 63,600 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in CME Group by 7.3% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 1,176,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $227,498,000 after buying an additional 80,300 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in CME Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 88,679 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,260,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in CME Group during the fourth quarter worth about $23,173,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.71% of the company’s stock.

NASDAQ:CME opened at $199.93 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $222.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.74. CME Group has a 52 week low of $185.79 and a 52 week high of $256.94. The company has a market capitalization of $71.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 9th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.22%.

About CME Group (Get Rating)

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 products.

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