CME Group Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.15 (NASDAQ:CME)

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of 1.15 per share by the financial services provider on Friday, December 27th. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%.

CME Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. CME Group has a payout ratio of 44.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect CME Group to earn $10.24 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.9%.

CME Group Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CME opened at $222.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50-day moving average of $221.36 and a 200-day moving average of $209.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 5.61 and a beta of 0.55. CME Group has a 12 month low of $190.70 and a 12 month high of $230.36.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that CME Group will post 10.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on CME shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on CME Group from $187.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Redburn Atlantic cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $244.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on CME Group from $219.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of CME Group from $212.00 to $213.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $222.73.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In other CME Group news, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total value of $226,960.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.12, for a total transaction of $312,062.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,275 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.96, for a total transaction of $226,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,621 shares of company stock worth $3,441,063 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About CME Group

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.