McDonald’s Co. (MCD) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.77 on March 17th

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 1.77 per share by the fast-food giant on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd.

McDonald’s has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 49 years. McDonald’s has a dividend payout ratio of 53.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect McDonald’s to earn $13.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 53.4%.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of MCD opened at $308.17 on Friday. McDonald’s has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $294.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $295.09. The stock has a market cap of $220.18 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock valued at $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MCD. KeyCorp lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.