McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE MCD traded down $2.10 on Wednesday, reaching $292.90. 2,277,108 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,512,017. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $275.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCD. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Argus upgraded McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.74.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,721.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,097 shares of company stock worth $10,256,818 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.