CME Group FY2026 EPS Forecast Raised by Erste Group Bank

CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) – Erste Group Bank boosted their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for CME Group in a report released on Tuesday, March 24th. Erste Group Bank analyst H. Engel now forecasts that the financial services provider will earn $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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.02. The firm 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%. CME Group’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on CME. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of CME Group from $201.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on CME Group from $262.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Barclays increased their target price on CME Group from $304.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of CME Group in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.06.

CME Group Stock Down 2.9%

CME stock opened at $293.93 on Thursday. CME Group has a one year low of $248.53 and a one year high of $329.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $301.97 and a 200-day moving average of $281.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CME Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CME. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in CME Group by 11.5% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,027 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of CME Group during the 2nd quarter worth $84,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of CME Group by 16.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 65,704 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,109,000 after buying an additional 9,463 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CME Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,931,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in CME Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 8,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,459,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William R. Shepard bought 251 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.37 per share, for a total transaction of $69,870.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 258,710 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $72,017,102.70. This represents a 0.10% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Jonathan L. Marcus sold 3,291 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.37, for a total transaction of $1,097,120.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 7,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,397,597.04. This trade represents a 31.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 8,539 shares of company stock valued at $2,713,821 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.30 per share. This is an increase from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. CME Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

About CME Group

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.