CME Group (CME) to Release Earnings on Wednesday

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) is anticipated to post its quarterly earnings results before the market opens on Wednesday, February 12th. Analysts expect CME Group to post earnings of $2.46 per share and revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter. Parties interested in participating in the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

CME Group Stock Performance

Shares of CME stock opened at $241.81 on Tuesday. CME Group has a 1 year low of $190.70 and a 1 year 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 firm has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $235.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.32.

CME Group announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 52.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CME shares. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup cut shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Barclays raised their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

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.