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

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. CME Group had a return on equity of 12.32% and a net margin of 57.83%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $213.48. The stock had a trading volume of 489,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,773,668. The stock has a market cap of $76.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $211.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a 12-month low of $175.73 and a 12-month high of $223.80.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is 51.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CME. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Argus increased their price objective on CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $187.00 price target (up previously from $185.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $216.10.

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.