CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.25

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 1.25 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, March 26th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15.

CME Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 42.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. CME Group has a payout ratio of 53.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect CME Group to earn $10.33 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 56.1%.

CME Group Stock Up 1.1 %

CME Group stock opened at $244.41 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $223.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 5.37 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group has a one year low of $190.70 and a one year high of $249.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $210.00 to $233.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of CME Group from $245.00 to $258.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of CME Group in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $229.27.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, December 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.