McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.01 EPS

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.01), RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $273.07 on Wednesday. McDonald’s has a fifty-two week low of $245.73 and a fifty-two week high of $302.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $280.92 and a 200 day moving average of $282.33. The firm has a market cap of $196.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 57.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on McDonald’s from $343.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $317.67.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.