Erste Group Bank Predicts Higher Earnings for CME Group

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Analysts at Erste Group Bank upped their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of CME Group in a research note issued on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings of $11.94 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $11.90. Erste Group Bank currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for CME Group’s current full-year earnings is $10.49 per share. Erste Group Bank also issued estimates for CME Group’s FY2027 earnings at $12.75 EPS.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. CME Group had a net margin of 62.45% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on CME Group from $319.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of CME Group in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of CME Group from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of CME Group from $311.00 to $310.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Down 1.3%

CME Group stock opened at $293.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.24. CME Group has a 1-year low of $248.53 and a 1-year high of $329.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $302.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $281.58.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Martin J. Gepsman sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.90, for a total value of $91,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,999 shares in the company, valued at $7,647,194.10. This trade represents a 1.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $278.37 per share, with a total value of $69,870.87. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $72,017,102.70. This trade represents a 0.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CME Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Amundi increased its stake in shares of CME Group by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,987,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $548,150,000 after acquiring an additional 385,225 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 70,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,106,000 after acquiring an additional 5,773 shares during the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 86.0% in the third quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 29,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,896,000 after purchasing an additional 13,512 shares during the period. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 85.2% in the third quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,519 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 3,919 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Financial Group LLC increased its position in CME Group by 310.2% during the second quarter. Victory Financial Group LLC now owns 3,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Company Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.