Zacks Research Expects Increased Earnings for CME Group

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Zacks Research upped their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of CME Group in a research report issued on Tuesday, February 4th. Zacks Research analyst T. De now anticipates that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $10.80 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $10.74. The consensus estimate for CME Group’s current full-year earnings is $10.18 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for CME Group’s Q4 2026 earnings at $2.95 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on CME Group from $260.00 to $256.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on CME Group from $250.00 to $258.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup lowered CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $231.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $229.27.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $244.41 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $235.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $223.49. The stock has a market cap of $88.08 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CME. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its position in CME Group by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 4,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 898 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $871,063,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $71,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at $3,669,000. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CME Group by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 73,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

CME Group declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This is a boost from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 48.37%.

CME Group Company Profile

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.