CME Group Inc. (CME) to Issue Dividend of $5.80 on January 16th

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) declared a dividend on Thursday, December 5th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of 5.80 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, January 16th. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous dividend of $2.50.

CME Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. CME Group has a payout ratio of 55.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect CME Group to earn $10.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.0%.

CME Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ CME traded up $1.46 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $239.47. The stock had a trading volume of 478,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,869. CME Group has a 52-week low of $190.70 and a 52-week high of $249.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a market cap of $86.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $231.28 and a 200 day moving average of $215.62.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.03. CME Group had a net margin of 57.34% and a return on equity of 13.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group will post 10.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at CME Group

In related news, insider Timothy Francis Mccourt sold 1,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were 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 directly owns 7,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,298. This represents a 15.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Timothy S. Bitsberger sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,403,279.44. The trade was a 8.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,274 shares of company stock worth $1,648,071 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CME. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of CME Group in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. They set a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on CME Group from $237.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.33.

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.