CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Plans Dividend Increase – $5.80 Per Share

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 by an average of 9.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. CME Group has a dividend payout ratio of 55.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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

Shares of CME opened at $239.47 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $231.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.62. CME Group has a 12-month low of $190.70 and a 12-month high of $249.02. The firm has a market cap of $86.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.56.

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CME shares. Barclays increased their price target on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen began coverage on CME Group in a report on Thursday, September 26th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $221.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of CME Group in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on CME Group from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CME Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $229.33.

Insider Transactions at CME Group

In related news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 400 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.92, for a total transaction of $89,168.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,587,935.64. This trade represents a 1.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Sunil Cutinho sold 4,500 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.64, for a total value of $1,019,880.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,053 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,131,291.92. This represents a 14.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,274 shares of company stock valued at $1,648,071 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently 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.