CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) Issues Earnings Results

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.06, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.83% and a return on equity of 12.32%. CME Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.42 EPS.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME traded up $0.89 during trading on Thursday, reaching $213.48. 489,342 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,773,668. The stock has a market capitalization 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. CME Group has a 12 month low of $175.73 and a 12 month high of $223.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $214.73 and a 200-day moving average of $211.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a boost 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CME has been the topic of several research reports. Argus raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $210.00 target price (down previously from $235.00) on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $222.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on CME Group from $222.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.