McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Releases 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.01), RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 180.54% and a net margin of 33.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.63 EPS.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $274.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $198.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $280.53 and its 200-day moving average is $282.27. McDonald’s has a 52-week low of $245.73 and a 52-week high of $302.39.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCD. Citigroup decreased their target price on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $343.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About McDonald’s

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.