McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83, Zacks reports. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $294.39 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $210.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $290.70 and a 200-day moving average of $290.89.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.86.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.