CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shareholders to Get $1.30 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• CME Group declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 per share, payable December 30 to shareholders of record December 11. The annualized dividend is $5.20, a yield of 1.7%.
• The dividend appears well covered: CME’s payout ratio is 44.8%, and analysts expect next year’s earnings to cover the annual dividend at a projected 39.7% payout ratio.
• CME beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting EPS of $3.02 and revenue of $1.74 billion, with revenue up 10.6% year over year. Analysts’ average price target is $314.44, and their consensus rating is “Hold.”

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, December 30th. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 11th.

CME Group has a payout ratio of 44.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect CME Group to earn $13.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.7%.

CME Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:CME opened at $307.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $282.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.66. The stock has a market cap of $109.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.15. CME Group has a 52 week low of $218.31 and a 52 week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $3.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.99 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 63.33% and a return on equity of 16.23%. CME Group's revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.68 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CME Group will post 12.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on CME Group from $315.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised CME Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. CLSA set a $367.00 target price on CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on CME Group from $226.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on CME Group from $281.00 to $321.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $314.44.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc operates global derivatives marketplaces that provide trading, clearing and settlement services for futures and options contracts. Its products cover major asset classes, including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, agricultural commodities, energy and metals. The company also provides market data, benchmark information and related services used by financial institutions, corporations, producers, investors and other market participants.

CME Group's exchange portfolio includes CME, the Chicago Board of Trade, the New York Mercantile Exchange and COMEX.

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